I  (ttnlumhta  Hnto^ratg 

in  tit?  (Ett^  flf  N^m  f  nrk 

OloUrgr  of  pijgBtrianB  vitih  ^urgpouB 


Sffprenrp   Hibrary 


BENJAMIN  RUSH  AND  HIS  SERVICES 
TO  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 


BY 

HARRY  G.  GOOD,  Ph.D. 

Professor  of  Education 
Bluffton  College 


WITNESS  PRESS 
Berne,  Indiana 


Copyright,  1918 

By  HARRY  G.  GOOD 

Published  April,  1918 


PREFACE 

More  than  one  hundred  years  have  passed  since 
the  death  of  Doctor  Benjamin  Rush  and  yet  nothing 
that  purports  to  be  a  complete  biography  of  him  has 
been  published.  There  are  many  short  sketches,  one 
copied  from  the  other  in  many  cases,  and  several  valu- 
able eulogies.  Better  than  any  of  these  is  the  "Memo- 
rial, Written  by  Himself",  which  was  privately  pub- 
lished "for  the  benefit  of  his  descendants"  several  years 
ago.  A  man  who  had  so  large  a  share  in  the  work  of 
his  city  and  the  councils  of  his  nation  and  the  life  of 
his  times  deserves  better  of  posterity. 

The  life  of  a  physician  should  be  written  by  a 
brother  physician  and  Dr.  S.  Weir  Mitchell  was  much 
interested  in  Dr.  Rush  and  collected  and  published 
some  material.  It  will  always  be  regretted  that  among 
the  many  labors  of  his  life  he  did  not  find  time  also  to 
^  complete  this  one.  But  if  no  physician  will  take  time 
[^^  to  write  a  biography  of  Rush,  then  a  layman  may  be 
pardoned  for  doing  so,  if  he  can  approach  the  subject 
on  what  may  be  called  Dr.  Rush's  second  level  of  in- 
terests, his  interest  in  education  and  social  reform. 


VI  PREFACE 

The  present  book  is  written  from  this  standpoint.  It 
is  written  for  all  lovers  of  history.  But  it  is  written 
more  especially  for  those  interested  in  education  and 
educational  history. 

The  first  three  chapters  discuss  Dr.  Rush's  early 
life,  his  work  as  a  patriot  and  statesman,  as  a  physician 
and  teacher  of  medicine.  Chapters  IV  and  V  were 
prepared  as  a  doctoral  dissertation  in  Education  at  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania.  The  subject  was  first 
suggested  to  me  several  years  ago  by  Professor  A. 
Duncan  Yocum  of  that  University.  To  him  belongs 
the  credit  of  having  discovered  an  early  and  import- 
ant but  neglected  thinker  upon  the  problems  of  edu- 
cation in  America.  Professor  Frank  P.  Graves,  Dean 
of  the  School  of  Education,  under  whose  direction  the 
dissertation  was  finally  prepared,  has  critically  read 
my  manuscript  and  has  made  many  indispensable  sug- 
gestions as  to  my  treatment  of  the  subject. 

Throughout  I  have  tried  to  write  in  a  critical  and 
scientific  spirit.  Dr.  Rush  was  a  many-sided  man.  His 
life  would  therefore  readily  lend  itself  to  a  highly- 
colored  treatment.  This  I  have  distinctly  tried  to 
avoid.  I  hope  the  more  neutral  tones  will  make  for 
impartiality  and  accuracy. 

My  special  thanks  are  due  not  only  to  Professors 
Yocum  and  Graves  (my  great  obligations  to  whom 
have  already  been  indicated),  but  also  to  the  librarians 


PREFACE  VII 

and  their  assistants  at  the  Ridgway  Library  and  the 
Libraries  of  the  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society  and 
of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  More  specific  ac- 
know^ledgment  of  my  obligations  to  these  several  col- 
lections for  the  use  of  manuscript  and  printed  material 
is  made  in  the  bibliography. 

Philadelphia,  Pa., 

August  10,  1915. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I.                                  Page 
EARLY  LIFE  AND  TRAINING 3 

CHAPTER  II. 
RUSH  IN  THE  REVOLUTION 35 

CHAPTER  HI. 

RUSH  AS  PROFESSOR  AND  PRACTITIONER  OF 
MEDICINE    1^ 

CHAPTER  IV. 
BENJAMIN  RUSH  AND  DICKINSON  COLLEGE...     99 

CHAPTER  V. 

EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS   OF   RUSH 171 

INTRODUCTION.— 1.  A  System  of  Public  Schools, 
171. — 2.  The  Early  Literature  on  a  National  Univer- 
sity, 179.— 3.  Other  Educational  Writings,  188.— 
4.  Summary  of  Dr.  Rush's  Educational  Positions,  194. 

SELECTIONS.— 1.  Address  to  the  People  of  the 
United  States,  198.-2.  Plan  of  a  Federal  University, 
206. — 3.  A  Plan  for  Establishing  Public  Schools  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  for  Conducting  Education  Agree- 
ably to  a  Republican  Form  of  Government,  214. — 
4.  To  the  Citizens  of  Philadelphia,  and  of  the  Dis- 
tricts of  Southwark  and  the  Northern  Liberties,  220. 


X  CONTENTS 

— 5.  Fenelon  and  Rush  on  the  Education  of  Women; 
A  Comparison,  226. — 6.  A  Lecture,  234. — 7.  "Reasons 
Against  Founding  a  College  at  Carlisle:  Ironical  by 
B.  Rush,"  244.-8.  Dr.  Rush's  Letter  to  Dr.  Nisbet 
Informing  the  Latter  of  His  Election  as  "Principal" 
of  Dickinson   College,  248. 

APPENDIX    255 

BIBLIOGRAPHY    259 

1.  Introduction,  259. — 2.  Autobiography,  260. — 3.  On 
Education,  260.— 4.  Medical  Works,  263.-5.  On  Yel- 
low Fever,  266. — 6.  Medical  Works,  Edited  by  Rush, 
267.-7.  On  Slavery,  268.-8.  On  Political  Subjects, 
269.-9.  On  Temperance,  269.-10.  On  Penal  Re- 
form, 270-11.  Memorial  Addresses,  270. — 12.  Miscel- 
laneous, 271. — 13.  Secondary  Sources,  272. 

INDEX    277 


BENJAMIN  RUSH 

and  his 

SERVICES  TO  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 


CHAPTER  I. 

EARLY  LIFE  AND  TRAINING 

Benjamin  Rush  was  born  in  Byberry  Township. 
Philadelphia  County,  and  State  of  Pennsylvania  on 
Christmas  Eve,  1745  (O.  S.),  and  died  in  Philadelphia 
on  April  19,  1813.  He  was  of  English  parentage  on 
both  sides.  The  Rush  family,  a  race  of  sturdy  yeo- 
men, were  native  in  Oxfordshire.  In  religion  they 
were  dissenters.  In  the  new  world  they  became  Pres- 
byterians, Quakers  and  Baptists.  Their  first  American 
representative  was  a  Captain  John  Rush  who  had 
commanded  a  troop  of  horse  under  the  Protector; 
and  there  is  a  family  tradition  that  Cromwell  knew 
him  personally  and  valued  highly  his  military  ability.* 
After  the  Restoration,  not  finding  the  England  of 
Charles  congenial.  Captain  Rush  with  a  family  of  six 
sons  and  three  daughters  followed  William  Penn  in 
1683  to  the  scene  of  his  **holy  experiment".  He  settled 
in  Byberry,  fourteen  miles  northeast  of  Philadelphia, 

*  See  Staughton's  Eulogium  in  Memory  of  the  late  Dr. 
Benjamin  Rush.     Philadelphia,  1813. 


4  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

on  a  farm  and  here  he  died  in  1699  at  an  advanced  age. 

Benjamin  Rush's  father  was  John  Rush,  who  was 
a  farmer  on  the  ancestral  acres,  as  had  been  all  the 
intervening  ancestors  on  the  paternal  side.  He  died 
when  Benjamin  was  only  five  or  six  years  old,  and  we 
must,  therefore,  look  to  his  mother  for  his  early  train- 
ing and  education.  His  mother's  name,  before  her 
marriage,  was  Susannah  Hall.  She  had  attended  a 
boarding  school  in  Philadelphia  and  was  well  educated 
for  her  sex  and  her  times.  Her  distinguished  son  says 
of  her:  "As  a  mother  she  was  distinguished  by  kind- 
ness, generosity  and  attention  to  the  morals  and  relig- 
ious principles  of  her  children."  To  John  and  Susan- 
nah Rush  there  were  born  six  children — four  son?  and 
two  daughters — of  whom  Benjamin  was  the  second 
son  and  the  fourth  child.  Of  his  brothers  none  at- 
tained a  great  reputation  except  Jacob  Rush,  who 
chose  the  law  for  his  profession  and  rose  to  a  seat 
on  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania. 

Both  Benjamin  Rush  and  his  brother  Jacob  were 
sent  to  an  academy  established  about  1744  at  Notting- 
ham, Cecil  County,  Maryland,  by  the  Reverend  Samuel 
Finley.  This  school  was  chosen,  no  doubt,  because 
Dr.  Finley  was  a  relative  by  marriage,  his  wife  being 
Sarah  Hall,  a  sister  of  Benjamin  Rush's  mother.^    But 

■  Dr.  Finley  was  twice  married.     His  first  wife  died  in 
1760,  the  year  before  he  left  Nottingham.     His  second  wife 


EARLY  LIFE  AND  TRAINING  5 

the  academy  was  on  its  own  account  quite  worthy  of 
patronage,  as  we  may  judge  from  the  number  of  emi- 
nent men  turned  out,  from  the  known  character  of  its 
master  and  his  reputation  as  an  educator,  and  from 
Dr.  Rush's  direct  testimony  to  the  value  of  the  train- 
ing he  received  there.  Dr.  Finley  was  a  Presbyterian 
minister  from  the  north  of  Ireland.  He  had  been  edu- 
cated by  the  Tennents  at  the  famous  Log  College  in 
Bucks  County,  Pennsylvania.  He  had  spent  several 
years  in  evangelistic  work  in  New  Jersey,  and  in  Con- 
necticut; had  served  for  six  months  as  pastor  of  the 
Second  Presbyterian  Church,  Philadelphia,  and  had 
now,  in  1744,  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine,  been  assigned 
to  a  rural  charge  in  Maryland.  Here  he  founded  and 
for  seventeen  years  conducted  the  academy  already 
mentioned.  He  was  successful;  so  much  so  that  in 
1761  he  was  called  to  the  presidency  of  the  College  of 
New  Jersey  (now  Princeton  University). 

Among  the  eminent  men  wlio  received  their  early 
training  and  their  college  preparation  under  him  were 
Governors  Henry  of  Maryland,  and  Martin  of  North 
Carolina;  Dr.  John  Morgan,  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  Medical  School  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania ; 

was  Anna  Clarkson.  A  great-grandson,  Samuel  Finley 
Breeze  Morse,  became  the  inventor  of  the  telegraph.  See  A. 
Alexander,  Biographical  Sketches  of  the  Founder  and  Princi- 
pal Alumni  of  the  Log  College.    Philadelphia,  1851,  p.  213. 


6  BENJAMIN   RUSH 

Ebenezer  Hazard ;  Reverend  James  Waddell,  the  fa- 
mous "blind  preacher  of  Virginia" ;  Reverend  William 
Tennent,  the  younger;  Judge  Jacob  Rush;  and,  lastly, 
more  famous  than  any  of  these,  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush.^ 
Young  Rush  was  sent  to  Nottingham  at  the  age  of 
eight  or  nine  and  remained  there  for  a  period  of  about 
five  years.  We  know  very  little  about  the  course  of 
study  except  that  the  staples  were  Latin  and  Greek  and 
that  it  prepared  for  college  entrance.  Rush  seems  to 
have  been  impressed  more  with  the  discipline  and  gen- 
eral conduct  of  the  school  than  with  the  studies  them- 
selves. The  discipline  seemed  to  him  to  have  been 
very  strict.  Corporal  punishment  was  a  matter  of 
course,  as  indeed  it  was  in  nearly  all  schools  at  that 
time.  Speaking  of  Dr.  Finley's  punishments,  Rush 
says :  ''The  instrument  with  which  he  corrected  was 
a  small  switch  which  he  broke  from  a  tree.  The  part 
he  struck  was  the  palm  of  the  hand  and  that  never 
more  than  three  times.  The  solemn  forms  connected 
with  the  punishment  were  more  terrible  and  distress- 
ing than  the  punishment  itself.  I  once  saw  him  spend 
half  an  hour  in  exposing  the  folly  and  wickedness  of 
an  offense  with  his  rod  in  his  hand.  The  culprit  stood 
all  this  while  trembling  and  weeping  before  him.  After 
he  had  ended  his  admonitions  he  lifted  his  rod  as  high 

'Thomas  Murphy:  The  Presbytery  of  the  Log  College. 
Philadelphia,  1889,  p.  95  ff. 


EARLY  LIFE  AND  TRAINING  7 

as  he  could  and  then  permitted  it  to  fall  gently  upon 
his  hand.  The  boy  was  surprised  at  this  conduct. 
'There,  go  about  your  business,'  said  the  Doctor.  T 
mean  shame  and  not  pain  to  be  your  punishment  in 
the  present  instance.'  "  By  implication  Rush  rather 
approves  of  this  proceeding,  although  his  deliberate 
judgment  was  strongly  against  any  and  every  form  of 
corporal  punishment.  But,  while  the  punishment  in 
the  school  room  was  thus  severe,  yet  the  Reverend 
Doctor,  in  many  ways,  treated  his  pupils,  out  of  school, 
very  much  as  a  father  would  treat  his  own  children. 
The  boys  were  permitted  to  dine  with  their  master's 
family.  This  custom  Rush  commends  very  highly; 
and  he  declares  that  many  of  the  "formative  ideas"  of 
his  life  were  inspired  by  conversation  in  Dr.  Finley's 
family  and  among  his  visitors. 

From  Nottingham,  Rush,  at  the  immature  age  of 
fourteen,  was  sent  to  the  College  of  New  Jersey.  And, 
even  more  wonderful  to  relate,  he  was  graduated  and 
given  the  A.  B.  degree  by  that  institution  in  Septem- 
ber of  the  very  next  year,  1760,  when  he  still  lacked 
over  three  months  of  being  fifteen  years  of  age.  Al- 
though Rush  was  quick  enough  with  his  lessons  and 
perhaps  even  a  bit  precocious,  this  early  graduation  is 
not  so  much  an  evidence  of  precocity  as  of  the  ex- 
tremely low  state  of  American  collegiate  instruction 
in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century.    The  College 


8  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

of  New  Jersey  had  been  founded  but  recently,  under 
the  auspices  of  the  Synod  of  New  York  that  it  might 
aid  in  supplying  an  educated  ministry  for  the  Presby- 
terian Church.    It  was,  therefore,  a  very  young  institu- 
tion in  a  very  poor  country.   Besides,  the  rapid  growth 
of  population,  as  well  as  the  schism  in  the  Presby- 
terian   Church — which    had    not    altogether    healed — 
caused  the  demand  for  ministers  to  exceed  the  supply. 
All  these  conditions  would  make  for  low   standards. 
Moreover,  the  course  of  study  in  even  the  best  Amer- 
ican institutions  of  that  day  was  meagre.     Latin  and 
Greek  formed  the  beginning,  and  without  much  exag- 
geration one  could  say,  also  the  middle  and  end  of  the 
course.    Those  languages  were,  however,  supplement- 
ed by  lectures  in  philosophy,  mental,  moral  and  nat- 
ural, covering  a  vast  field  which  now  furnishes  ma- 
terial for  a  great  circle  of  sciences.    All  this  was  then 
taught  by  one  man.     There  was  also  some  work  in 
English   and   oratory,   and   a   little — a   very   little — in 
mathematics.    But  the  best  clue  to  the  state  of  educa- 
tion is  furnished  by  Rush's  correspondence.    After  he 
had  studied  Latin  for  six  or  seven  years  and  had  been 
graduated  and  was  living  in  Philadelphia,  his  friend, 
Ebenezer  Hazard,  suggested  that  they  conduct  a  corre- 
spondence in   Latin.     Although  Rush  replied  with  a 
short   letter   in   that   language,   he   begged   that   they 
might  return  to  the  mother  tongue,  because  he  found 


EARLY  LIFE  AND  TRAINING  9 

the  Latin  too  difficult  and  requiring  too  much  time.^ 
And  this  not  because  he  was  a  dull  student;  he  was 
one  of  the  most  brilliant. 

At  the  time  when  Rush  was  a  student  at  the  Col- 
lege of  New  Jersey,  the  Reverend  Samuel  Davies  was 
its  president.  He  was  impressed  with  the  capacity  of 
his  young  student  for  composition  and  public  speak- 
ing. Rush,  in  his  autobiography,  comments  on  this 
judgment  as  follows:  ''The  facility  with  which  I  com- 
mitted his  lessons  to  memory  made  so  agreeable  an 
impression  upon  him  that  he  gave  me  credit  for  much 
more  capacity  than  I  possessed."  He  did,  however, 
have  considerable  ability  in  public  speaking,  a  talent 
that  he  was  frequently  invited  to  exercise  throughout 
his  life,  as  we  shall  see.  On  being  asked  by  President 
Davies  what  profession  he  intended  to  follow,  Rush 
declared  his  choice  of  the  law.  To  this  decision  the 
Doctor  replied  that  he  believed  his  student  would  make 
a  better  figure  at  the  bar  than  in  the  walks  of  a  hos- 
pital. With  the  consent  of  his  mother,  which  was 
readily  obtained,  the  matter  seemed  settled  and  Rush 
made  preparations  to  enter  the  office  of  a  prominent 
attorney  in  Philadelphia.  But,  before  actually  com- 
mencing upon  his  legal  studies,  a  conversation  with 
his  former  preceptor  changed  the  whole  course  of  his 
life.     Rush  visited  the  school  at  Nottingham  and  Dr. 

*  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  39.     Hazard  correspondence,  passim. 


10  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

Finley  strongly  urged  him  to  leave  the  idea  of  fol- 
lowing the  law  and  to  study  medicine  instead.  The 
whole  matter  may  be  best  told  in  Rush's  own  words : 
"He  [Dr.  Finley]  said  the  practice  of  the  bar  was  full 
of  temptations.  .  .  .  'But  before  you  determine  on 
anything  (said  he)  set  apart  a  day  for  fasting  and 
prayer  and  ask  of  God  to  direct  you  in  the  choice  of 
a  profession.'  ...  I  am  sorry  to  say  I  neglected  the  lat- 
ter part  of  his  advice,  but  yielded  to  the  former.  .  .  . 
There  were  periods  in  my  life  in  which  I  regretted  the 
choice  I  had  made  of  the  profession  of  medicine  and 
once,  after  I  was  thirty  years  of  age,  I  made  prepara- 
tions for  beginning  the  study  of  law.  But  Providence 
overruled  my  intentions  by  an  event  to  be  mentioned 
hereafter.  ...  I  now  rejoice  that  I  followed  Dr.  Finley's 
advice.    I  have  seen  the  hand  of  heaven  clearly  in  it." 

Many  of  the  friends  of  Rush  and  of  his  family  ad- 
vised strongly  against  this  change  of  purpose.  His 
former  fellow  students  recalled  to  his  mind  his  ability 
and  promise  as  a  speaker  and  debater  and  emphasized 
the  advantage  this  would  give  him  at  the  bar.  But 
his  mind  was  now  fully  determined. 

He  entered  the  **shop"  of  Dr.  John  Redman,  one  of 
the  leading  physicians  in  Philadelphia,  who  now  be- 
came his  patron  and  teacher.  The  acquaintance  thus 
formed  ripened  into  a  friendship  that  lasted  through- 
out the  long  life  of  Dr.  Redman.    From  Rush's  corre- 


EARLY  LIFE  AND  TRAINING  11 

spondence  during  this  period  with  his  friend  and  for- 
mer schoolmate,  Ebenezer  Hazard,  we  learn  some- 
thing of  his  situation  and  of  the  details  of  his  work  as 
an  apprentice  in  medicine. s  His  employer  was  at  this 
time  on  the  staff  of  physicians  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Hospital,  and  from  this  circumstance  Rush  had  the 
opportunity  to  observe  the  practice  of  five  other  phy- 
sicians, besides  that  of  his  master.  The  young  stu- 
dent's habits  of  concentration  and  of  steady  application 
were  clearly  shown  during  this  period  of  his  appren- 
ticeship. He  began  the  study  of  medicine  and  entered 
his  master's  "shop"  and  family  in  February,  1761,  and 
remained  continuously  until  July,  1766.  During  this 
whole  period  of  approximately  five  years  and  a  half, 
he  was  away  from  business  only  eleven  days,  and  spent 
only  three  evenings  outside  his  patron's  house. 

This  method  was  then  the  approved — and  in  fact 
almost  the  only  possible — way  of  securing  a  medical 
education  in  America.  Even  so,  the  medical  student 
or  apprentice  was  quite  as  much  a  servant  as  a  student. 
Subjects  for  dissection  were  obtained  only  with  the 
greatest  difficulty,  due  largely  to  a  general  prejudice 
against  the  practice ;  such  great  difficulty,  in  fact,  that 
twenty  years  later  at  the  then  recently  established 
medical  school  of  Harvard  College  a  single  body  was 
made  to  serve  for  a  full  year's  course  of  lectures  to 
'  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  39.     Hazard  correspondence. 


12  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

an  entire  class  of  students.  Grave  robbing  was  a  com- 
mon practice,  perpetrated  usually  on  the  graves  of 
negroes,  paupers  or  criminals.  The  undeveloped  state 
of  science  was  another  important  reason  for  the  slight 
use  made  of  opportunities  for  dissection.  Without 
some  study  it  is  not  possible  to  realize  how  much  our 
knowledge  of  anatomy  has  grown  since  the  middle  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  Not  only  were  the  laboratory 
facilities  meagre  and  little  used,  but  medical  literature 
was  scanty  to  a  degree  that  can  be  hardly  appreciated 
at  the  present  day. 

Instead  of  working  up  the  minutiae  of  anatomy  and 
histology,  the  eighteenth  century  medical  student  rode 
with  the  genial  doctor  on  his  rounds  and  held  the  basin 
when  the  patient  was  bled.  Instead  of  worrying  over- 
much with  the  details  of  materia  medica,  he  might 
clean  bottles,  for  bottles  were  costly  then ;  run  errands ; 
or  deliver  medicines  and  messages. 

But  if  the  requirements  were  not  severe,  neither 
were  the  responsibilities  felt  to  be  so  great  as  at  pres- 
ent. After  Rush  had  observed  Dr.  Redman's  methods 
for  a  year  or  more,  he  was  sometimes  given  entire 
charge  of  the  patients  for  whole  days  together,  while 
the  good  doctor  was  performing  hospital  duties.^ 

There  is  in  Rush's  correspondence  at  this  period 
abundant  evidence  that  the  young  student  was  noth- 

•Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  39.     Hazard  correspondence. 


EARLY  LIFE  AND  TRAINING  13 

ing,  if  not  conscientious,  and  that  his  mentor  apprecia- 
ted his  efforts.  Nor  did  Rush  try  to  depreciate  them. 
He  was  thus  early,  ambitious  aiid  eager  for  recogni- 
tion, watching  anxiously  to  detect  the  first  signs  of  a 
rising  tide.  **There  is  something,  methinks,  pleasing 
in  being  dependent  upon  a  man  of  conscience  and 
piety,  who  will  not  only  make  good  but  more  than 
perform  his  promises."  Thus  writes  this  sage  of 
twenty.  And  further  he  declares :  "This,  my  dear 
Ebenezer,  is  our  forming  time."  He  goes  on  to  say 
that  he  has  postponed  going  to  London  until  the  fol- 
lowing summer,  and  that  he  will  meanwhile  study, 
with  the  hope  of  ''making  a  figure  in  Europe" ;  that 
he  is  planning  to  learn  the  ''Dutch"  (meaning  the  Ger- 
man) language,  "inasmuch  as  a  large  part  of  our  city 
consists  of  that  nation"  ;7  and  that  he  Avill  endeavor  to 
read  the  aphorisms  of  Hippocrates.^  But  apparently 
he  did  not  make  much  progress  with  this  Greek  med- 
ical classic.  He,  however,  attended  two  courses  of 
lectures  by  Drs.  Shippen  and  Morgan — from  which  he 
derived  great  advantage.^ 

In  this  period  also  Rush  became  very  much  con- 

^Rush  MSS,  Vol.  39,  p.  7. 

Mbid.     Vol.  39,  p.  7. 

•Ibid.  Vol.  39,  p.  13.  Dr.  Morgan  lectured  on  Theory 
and  Practice  of  Physick  in  1765  in  the  College  of  Phila- 
delphia. 


14  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

cerned  about  his  religious  condition  and  situation. ^° 
George  Whitefield  visited  Philadelphia  again  about 
this  time  and  his  ministrations  made  a  deep  impression 
on  the  young  men.  There  are  whole  pages  of  rhetoric 
about  Whitefield's  preaching  and  about  the  solemnity 
of  various  services  that  he  attended,  in  Rush's  letters 
for  the  two  years,  1765  and  1766.  It  was  apparently 
in  the  spring  of  the  latter  year  that  Rush  first  gave 
his  adherence  to  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Philadelphia,  and  his  letters  of  that  time  show  in  a 
very  marked  way  the  characteristics  of  the  "psychol- 
ogy of  conversion"."  In  this  connection  it  should  be 
said  that  Rush  tried  his  "'prentice  hand"  in  writing, 
as  well  as  in  medicine,  at  this  time.    He  wrote  at  the 

"  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  39,  pp.  1-20,  passim. 

"  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  39,  Hazard  correspondence.  Benjamin 
Rush  was  baptized  by  the  Reverend  Eneas  Ross,  an  Epis- 
copal clergyman,  and  in  childhood  attended  divine  services 
in  Christ  Church,  Philadelphia.  His  mother,  however,  was  a 
strict  adherent  of  the  Presbyterian  faith  and  after  the  death 
of  his  father  he  went  with  her  to  the  Reverend  Gilbert  Ten- 
nent's  church  in  Fourth  Street  in  the  building  erected  first 
for  Whitefield,  but  used  afterward  by  the  infant  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania.  At  Dr.  Finley's  school  at  Notting- 
ham, Presbyterianism  was  also  instilled  by  precept,  example 
and  the  Westminster  Catechism.  Rush  remained  a  Pres- 
byterian communicant  until  in  the  sen-enteen  hundred  and 
eighties  when  he  was  led  to  accept  Unitarian  doctrines,  and 
the  Universalistic  belief  in  the  salvation  of  all  men.  But  in 
1788  both  he  and  his  wife  were  confirmed  in  the  St.  Peter's 
Episcopal  Church. 


EARLY  LIFE  AND  TRAINING  15 

age  of  nineteen  an  Eulogium  on  the  Rev.  Gilbert  Ten- 
nent,  who  had  for  forty  years  been  "an  active,  useful, 
animated  preacher  of  the  Gospel,"'^  and  for  twenty 
years  in  the  pulpit  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Philadelphia. 

During  his  service  with  Dr.  Redman  he  also  be- 
came interested  in  politics  and  in  that  growing  quarrel 
between  the  colonies  and  the  mother  country,  which- 
resulted  in  independence.  In  1765,  the  year  of  the 
Stamp  Act,  Rush  roundly  denounced  that  measure  in 
the  regular  "patriotic"  phrases  of  the  day.  In  Novem- 
ber of  that  year  he  "feared  daily"  that  stamps  might 
be  distributed  in  Philadelphia.  Dr.  Franklin  came  in 
for  a  great  deal  of  violent  boyish  criticism.  "Oh, 
Franklin,  Franklin,"  he  cries,  "thou  curse  to  Pennsyl- 
vania and  America. "^3 

In  August,  1766,  about  a  month  after  he  left  the 
office  of  Dr.  Redman,  and  by  his  advice.  Rush,  in  com- 
pany with  Mr.  Jonathan  Potts, ^^  another  embryo  doc- 
tor of  medicine,  sailed  for  Europe.  They  were  to  study 

"Ramsay's  Eulogium,  pp.  15,  97,  and  136. 

"Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  39,  pp.  12,  13,  and  20. 
"Mr.  Potts  seems  to  have  returned  to  America  the  follow- 
ing year  and  was  graduated  Bachelor  of  Medicine  from  the 
College  of  Philadelphia  at  the  first  medical  commencement 
of  that  institution  —  the  first  medical  commencement  in 
America  —  on  June  21,  1768.  G.  B.  Wood:  Early  History 
of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  p.  46. 


16  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

at  Edinburgh  under  the  famous  Dr.  CuUen  and  his 
colleagues.  The  titles  of  the  lecture  courses  then 
offered  at  this  university,  which  was  the  greatest  Eng- 
lish-speaking medical  center,  seem  very  compendious 
today.  They  are :  ''Anatomy,  Chymistry,  Institutes  of 
Medicine,  Natural  Philosophy,  Practice  of  Infirmary, 
Practice  of  Physick  and  Materia  Medica."  The  pro- 
fessors were  Doctors  CuUen,  Monroe,  Black,  Gregory 
and  Hope — five  in  all.  The  two  students  had  a  stormy 
and  dangerous  passage,  during  the  course  of  which 
they  were  almost  constantly  seasick  and  they  did  not 
reach  Edinburgh  until  November.  After  securing 
lodgings  they  at  once  entered  upon  their  studies.  What 
their  immediate  success  was  we  do  not  know,  but  it 
seems  as  if  Rush  at  least  was  not  any  too  well  pre- 
pared ;  for  he  was  compelled  to  spend  the  following 
vacation  —  the  summer  of  1767  —  in  deepening  his 
knowledge  of  Latin,  mathematics  and  natural  philos- 
ophy, in  order  to  follow  the  lectures.  He  employed  a 
tutor  in  these  subjects  as  well  as  in  French,  and  we 
find  him  using  this  experience  in  his  educational  theo- 
ry many  years  later.  He  became  a  writer  on  educa- 
tion, because  he  was,  in  the  first  place,  an  intelligent 
student.  About  the  same  time  he  taught  himself  the 
Italian  and  Spanish  languages.  And  he  seems  to  have 
kept  up  his  reading  of  them,  for  he  tells  us  that  he  was 
able  to  read  both  with  tolerable  ease  thirty  years  after. 


EARLY  LIFE  AND  TRAINING  17 

His  method  of  study  will  be  noticed  later.  It  seems 
unfortunate  that  we  have  so  few  details  of  his  Edin- 
burgh career,  for  in  this  period  he  developed  from  a 
provincial  assistant  to  a  physician  into  an  enthusiastic 
student  of  medicine,  philosophy  and  education. 

By  the  end  of  June,  1768,  Rush  had  passed  his  ex- 
aminations, had  ''publicly  defended"  (according  to 
medieval  phrase)  a  Latin  "thesis  on  the  digestion  of 
food  in  the  stomach",  and  was  therefore  granted  the 
degree,  Doctor  of  Medicine.  The  precise  title  of  his 
thesis  was,  "De  Coctione  Ciborum  in  Ventriculo." 
"The  eagerness  of  its  author  to  acquire  professional 
knowledge,  induced  him  to  test  a  medical  opinion  in 
a  way  against  which  a  less  ardent  student  would  have 
revolted.  To  ascertain  whether  fermentation  had  any 
agency  in  digestion  he  made  three  unpleasant  experi- 
ments on  his  own  stomach, "^^  that  is,  he  used  an  emetic 
three  hours  after  dinner,  and  then  tested  the  contents 
of  his  stomach  when  ejected.'^  Rush,  however,  did  not 
leave  Edinburgh  before  September,  and  meanwhile  he 
attended  a  private  course  of  lectures  on  the  Practice 
of  Physic. 

The  two  years  in  Edinburgh  were  by  Rush  him- 
self thought  to  have  been  the  most  important  of  his 

"  Quoted  from  Ramsay.     See  following  note. 
"The    experiment   with   the    results   are    summarized    in 
Ramsey,  An  Eulogium,  etc.,  p.  15  ff. 


18  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

life  in  their  influence  on  his  character  and  conduct. 
The  ideas  he  gathered  were  not  along  medical  lines 
only,  but  also  touched  political,  social  and  educational 
subjects.  One  of  these  ideas  was  communicated  by  a 
young  gentleman  of  the  name  of  John  Bostock,'^  one 
of  whose  ancestors,  like  Captain  John  Rush,  had  com- 
manded a  company  under  Oliver  Cromwell.  The  two 
young  men  frequently  discussed  political  matters  in 
which  Rush  was  becoming  greatly  interested.  Rush 
tells  us  in  his  Memoir  that  Bostock  converted  him  to 
''republican  ideas"  and  showed  him  "the  absurdity  of 
hereditary  power".  Rush  says  that  heretofore  he  had 
never  questioned  the  lawful  authority  of  the  royal 
governments  in  general,  or  of  the  King  of  England  in 
particular.  But  we  have  already  seen  his  attitude  to- 
ward the  Stamp  Act,  and  in  his  correspondence  with 
Ebenezer  Hazard  he  had  affirmed  himself  to  be  an 
ardent  "republican"  several  years  earlier.^®  The  facts 
may  well  be  that  Rush  was  led  to  a  more  radical  posi- 
tion by  his  friend,  Mr.  Bostock ;  and  that  when  he 
wrote  his  Memoirs  he  had  forgotten  how  far  he  had 
gone  in  that  direction  before  leaving  America.     It  is 

"Thirty-five  years  or  more  after  this,  Dr.  Rush  received 
a  letter  from  Dr.  John  Bostock,  Jr.,  speaking  of  this  friend- 
ship of  the  elder  Mr.  Bostock  for  Rush,  and  asking  for  details 
about  his  father,  who  had  died  during  the  childhood  of  the 
inquirer.    See  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.,  25,  p.  71. 

"Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  39,  p.  13. 


EARLY  LIFE  AND  TRAINING  19 

probably  correct  that  Rush,  in  unison  with  his  fellow 
countrymen,  in  1765  and  1766,  acknowledged  the  au- 
thority and  sovereignty  of  the  king.  But  he  took  ad- 
vanced ground  when  he  began  to  ask  definitely  for  the 
basis  of  that  authority.  And  now  that  he  had  begun 
questioning  he  found  difficulty  in  accepting  any  polit- 
ical control  that  did  not  rest  upon  the  explicit  consent 
of  the  governed. 

But  the  great  truth  which  had  infected  his  political 
notions  now  became  an  active  ferment  that  leavened 
every  department  of  his  thinking  and  his  scepticism 
became  wide  and  profound.  This  experience  is,  of 
course,  common  enough  in  young  men  who  have  just 
learned  the  power  of  thought  without  having  had  time 
to  discover  its  very  narrow  limitations.  He  began  to 
suspect  error  in  everything  that  he  had  ever  been 
taught  or  that  he  had  believed  and  he  began  "to  try 
the  foundations  of  his  opinions  upon  many  other  sub- 
jects," that  is,  other  than  politics.  But  the  next  state- 
ment is  proof  of  his  native  shrewdness  —  or  moral 
cowardice,  as  one  may  prefer — for  he  goes  on  to  say 
that  he  did  not  change  his  conversation  or  conduct 
since  he  regarded  the  prevailing  political  order  as 
fixed.  However,  when  the  times  became  more  propi- 
tious. Dr.  Rush  did  give  his  ideas  to  the  world  and  it 
is  to  the  mental  activity  of  this  period  that  he  himself 
ascribed  the  origins  of  most  of  his  essays  on  education, 


20  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

on  penal  legislation  and  prison  reform,  on  slavery,  on 
temperance,  on  capital  punishment,  and  on  other  hu- 
manitarian and  social  subjects. 

While  in  Europe,  Dr.  Rush  met  a  number  of  men, 
then  celebrated  or  who  became  so  later  in  their  lives. 
And  it  was  his  good  fortune  to  render  a  signal  service 
to  his  country  and  to  her  educational  interests  through 
one  such  acquaintanceship.  Dr.  Finley,  the  president 
of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  (now  Princeton),  died  in 
1766,  and  soon  after  the  Board  of  Trustees,  of  which 
Dr.  Redman  was  a  member,  elected  Dr.  John  Wither- 
spoon,  a  Presbyterian  minister  of  Paisley,  Scotland, 
to  the  vacancy.  Mr.  Richard  Stockton,  another  of  the 
Trustees  of  the  College,  was  then  in  England  and 
handed  the  minute  of  his  election  to  Dr.  Witherspoon. 
The  position  was,  however,  declined  because  of  objec- 
tions to  residence  in  America  raised  by  his  wife,  and 
it  remained  vacant  for  over  a  year.  During  the  fol- 
lowing summer,  1767,  in  the  intervals  of  his  study  of 
Latin  and  French,  Rush  found  time  to  visit  the  Wither- 
spoon family  in  Paisley,  and  through  his  representa- 
tions Mrs.  Witherspoon  was  persuaded  to  reconsider 
her  decision  and  to  withdraw  her  objections  against 
leaving  her  native  land.  Of  Dr.  Witherspoon's  career 
in  the  Continental  Congress  and  as  a  Signer  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  it  is  not  necessary  to 
speak.     That  is  a  part  of  the  political  history  of  the 


EARLY  LIFE  AND  TRAINING  21 

United  States.  Similarly,  the  arrival  of  this  scholarly 
educator  to  take  charge  of  an  educational  institution, 
then  apparently  tottering  to  its  fall,  was  an  event  in 
the  educational  history  of  our  country.  His  improve- 
ments in  the  course  of  study  by  introducing  physics, 
mathematics,  ethics  and  literature  mark  an  epoch  in 
the  growth  of  Princeton.  Dr.  Ramsay  thinks  that  the 
Trustees  of  the  College  appointed  Rush,  "their  com- 
missioner, to  solicit  Dr.  Witherspoon  to  accept  the 
presidency  ....  and  the  presbytery,  of  which  he  was 
a  member  to  consent  to  his  dismission."*'  Whatever 
the  evidence  for  this  statement,  it  fails  to  emphasize 
the  real  objection,  which  was  given  by  Rush  as  it  is 
stated  above.  But  whether  Rush  was  directly  ap- 
pointed a  commissioner  for  the  Trustees  or  not,  it 
seems  that  early  in  the  spring  of  1767  he  had  heard 
that  Dr.  Witherspoon  might  be  persuaded  to  recon- 
sider his  declination.'®  Early  in  August  Rush  was 
able  to  write  his  old  teacher,  Dr.  Redman,  that  Dr. 

"Ramsay's  Eulogium,  p.  17. 

"Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  22,  p.  10,  where  under  date  of 
April  9,  1767,  Dr.  Redman  writes  to  Rush:  "I  find  by  your  last 
letter  we  are  likely  to  get  Dr.  Weatherspoon  [sic]  for  which 
I  greatly  rejoice  and  hope  yet  again  to  see  Nassau  Hall 
flourish  and  triumph  over  all  its  enemies."  The  same  letter 
enjoins  upon  "Mr.  Benjamin  Rush,  student  of  Physick  in 
Edinburgh"  the  virtues  of  "probity,  piety,  and  serious  attention 
to  business"  an  injunction  which  that  individual  hardly  re- 
quired. 


22  •  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

Witherspoon  had  decided  to  accept,  and  a  meeting  of 
the  Board  of  Trustees  was  at  once  held  to  re-elect 
him.^'  Thus  was  a  great  personality  brought  from 
abroad  into  the  American  educational  field  by  this 
young  medical  student. 

Dr.  Rush  received  his  degree,  as  we  have  seen,  in 
June,  and  the  following  September  he  left  Edinburgh 
for  London,  where  he  registered  as  a  student  in  the 
St.  Thomas  Hospital.  He  attended  the  lectures  of  a 
number  of  physicians,  among  whom  was  Dr.  William 
Hunter.  During  his  stay  in  London  he  lived  in  the 
family  of  Benjamin  Franklin.  Perhaps  Franklin's  con- 
duct in  the  examination  before  the  House  of  Commons 
in  1766  had  changed  Rush's  earlier  estimate  of  that 
ambassador.  At  any  rate,  he  accepted  gratefully  the 
many  courtesies  which  the  great  Philadelphian  ex- 
tended to  him.  Franklin  introduced  him  to  many  of 
his  literary  and  political  friends.  Thus  he  met  Benja- 
min West,  and  through  him  secured  an  introduction  to 
Sir  Joshua  Reynolds.  Sir  Joshua,  in  his  turn,  invited 
Rush  to  a  dinner  at  which  Samuel  Johnson  and  Oliver 
Goldsmith  were  guests.  In  Edinburgh  he  had  already 
met  David  Hume,  and  now  that  he  was  in  London  and 
in  the  house  of  Hume's  friend,  Benjamin  Franklin,  he 
saw  more  of  him.  Again,  on  his  return  from  Paris  he 
delivered  to  Hume  a  letter  from  Diderot.  He  thus 
"  Rush  MSS..  Vol.  22.  p.  11.     Also  Vol.  39,  p.  21. 


EARLY  LIFE  AND  TRAINING  23 

spent  some  time  in  the  society  of  the  great  philosopher 
and  historian,  but  the  only  .conversation  Rush  reports 
is  a  remark  by  Hume  on  a  certain  portrait  of  Rousseau, 
which,  he  said,  well  brought  out  the  subject's  "peevish 
countenance."^^  One  may  readily  guess  that  Hume 
and  Rush  did  not  find  themselves  thoroughly  congen- 
ial. He  was  introduced  to  William  Cromwell,  a  great- 
grandson  of  the  Protector.  At  the  table  of  the  Messrs 
Dilly,  booksellers,  he  met  the  then  well  known  Alexan- 
der Cruden,  compiler  of  a  concordance  of  the  Bible. 
Edward  Dilly  corresponded  with  Rush  for  many  years, 
as  did  Doctors  Huck,  Lettsom  and  Pinkard,  as  well 
as  the  painter,  Benjamin  West.  These  indications  of 
Rush's  social  interests  while  in  London  show  that  he 
was  then  already  exercising  himself  in  the  art  of  being 
agreeable — an  art  that  all  who  knew  him  say  he  mas- 
tered and  retained  throughout  his  life.  Whether  he 
spent  much  effort  in  perfecting  himself  in  his  profes- 
sion while  in  London,  we  do  not  read.  Indeed,  the 
time  was  too  short  to  do  much. 

In  the  spring,  before  sailing  for  home,  Rush  spent 
several  months  in  Paris,  armed  with  a  letter  of  credit 
for  several  hundred  guineas  and  numerous  letters  of 

'^  This  must  have  been  shortly  after  the  quarrel  of  Rous- 
seau with  Hume.  See  Morley's  Rousseau,  Vol.  II,  Chap.  VI. 
The  description  of  the  picture  is  most  apt.  Poor  Rousseau 
had  enough  to  sour  him,  —  persecution,  a  frail  body,  and  a 
vulgar  woman! 
2 


24  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

introduction,  all  being  contributed  by  Franklin.  Did- 
erot received  him  in  his  library.  Mirabeau  welcomed 
him  as  the  friend  of  Franklin.  While  in  Paris  Rush 
visited  all  the  public  hospitals  and  thus  secured  some 
knowledge  of  the  state  of  medical  science  in  France, 
but  lack  of  time  prevented  any  extended  study. 

In  May,  Rush  returned  to  London  and  soon  after 
sailed  for  home,  reaching  Philadelphia  the  following 
month.  On  the  return  voyage  he  read  Blackstone  and 
Forster's  "Crown  Law",  an  indication  that  he  had  not 
fully  conquered  his  early  predilection  for  the  law.  He 
now  also  began  the  study  of  German  which  he  had  in 
mind  four  years  before  as  we  have  seen ;  and  he  read 
an  Italian  novel. 

Soon  after  his  arrival  in  June,  4769^  he  was  ap- 
pointed Professor  of  Chemistry  in  the  College  of  Phila- 
delphia. He  was  thus  the  fifth  member  of  the  faculty 
of  the  earliest  medical  school  in  America,  the  others 
being  Doctors  Shippen,  Morgan,  Kuhn  and  Bond.  Dr. 
Rush's  early  appointment  to  this  post  was  not  a  sur- 
prise to  him  and  in  fact  had  been  prepared  for,  before 
and  during  his  European  residence.  He  had  apparent- 
ly even  asked  Dr.  Redman  to  secure  the  appointment 
before  his  return.  To  this  request  Dr.  Redman  replied 
under  date  of  May  12,  1768 1^^  "As  to  the  professorship 
of  Chemistry  it  would  not  have  been  proper,  nor  would 

"Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  22,  p.  11. 


EARLY  LIFE  AND  TRAINING  25 

the  Trustees  choose  to  deprive  themselves  of  the  lib- 
erty of  election  so  long  before  the  qualifications  of  a 
person  would  be  certainly  determined ;  as  your  friends 
could  not  expect  this,  neither  would  they  ask  it,  know- 
ing that  they  could  easily  prevent  either  the  applica- 
tion or  election  of  another,  until  your  return.  Thus 
matters  stand  at  present ;  nor  has  the  person  you 
might  suspect  (or  any  other)  applied,  well  knowing 
from  proper  points  what  he  might  expect  if  he  had. 
Those  trustees  who  are  not  medical  think  little  about 
it,  and  those  who  are,  with  the  professors,  are  care- 
fully silent  about  it ;  so  that  I  believe  you  need  not 
fear  but  it  will  be  vacant  till  you  return,  nor  less  so 
of  your  election  upon  proper  application,  and  bringing 
sufficient  testimonials  of  your  diligent  attendance  to 
that  branch  of  medical  science  and  art  and  your  quali- 
fications therein,  which  I  advise,  as  it  will  be  to  your 
credit  as  well  as  to  that  of  our  College  to  be  so  certi- 
fied of  your  abilities."  The  same  letter  also  speaks  of 
the  College  of  New  Jersey,  of  which  also  Dr.  Redman 
was  a  trustee  and  has  been  quoted  before.^^  xhe  tone 
of  the  whole  communication  is  very  cordial  through- 
out, and  in  view  of  the  continued  friendship  of  the  two 
men  it  is  hard  to  see  why  Dr.  Rush  should  say,  as  he 
does,  that  for  his  appointment  to  this  post  he  was  in- 
debted to  the  friendship  of  Dr.  John  Morgan,  Pro- 

^*  See  page  21,  footnote. 


2()  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

fessor  of  the  Theory  and  Practice  of  Physic  in  the 
same  institution,  without  mentioning  Dr.  Redman  at 
all,  in  connection  with  the  position.  Dr.  Rush  followed 
the  advice  of  his  former  preceptor  to  "bring  sufficient 
testimonials"  of  his  knowledge  of  chemistry.  Accord- 
ingly we  find  Dr.  Fothergill,  probably  at  Rush's  solici- 
tation, urging  the  proprietor  of  the  province  of  Penn- 
sylvania that  he  should  recommend  to  the  Trustees  of 
the  College  of  Philadelphia  the  appointment  of  Dr. 
Rush  as  Professor  of  Chemistry  at  the  same  time  that 
he  tendered  the  institution  a  "suitable  chemical  appa- 
ratus."^s   The  letter  of  the  proprietor  read  as  follows : 

"Gentlemen : — Dr.  Rush  having  been  recommend- 
ed to  me  by  Dr.  Fothergill  as  a  very  expert  Chymist, 
and  the  Doctor  having  further  recommended  to  me  a 
chymical  apparatus  as  a  thing  that  will  be  of  great  use, 
particularly  in  the  tryal  of  ores,  I  send  you  such  as 
Dr.  Fothergill  thought  necessary,  under  the  care  of 
Dr.  Rush,  which  I  desire  your  acceptance  of.  I  recom- 
mend Dr.  Rush  to  your  notice,  and  humbly  wishing 
success  to  the  College,  remain  with  great  regard, 
Your  very  affectionate  friend," 

"Thomas  Penn." 
"To  the  Trustees  of  the  College  of  Philadelphia."^^ 

"  George  B.  Wood,  Early  History  of  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  Philadelphia,  1896,  p.  44. 

=^Scharf  and  Westcott.  Vol.  II,  p.  1589,  note. 


EARLY  LIFE  AND  TRAINING  Z? 

Dr.  Cullen  also  wrote  in  Rush's  interest  to  Dr. 
Morgan  under  date  of  September  18,  1768.^7  y>x, 
Cullen,  among  other  things,  says :  "It  is  very  con- 
venient for  me  to  write  by  Rush,  for  if  I  was  [sic]  to 
do  it  by  some  other  hands  I  should  think  myself 
obliged  to  give  you  the  medical  news  of  Europe,  but 
I  know  that  he  can  give  it  you  in  a  better  manner.  I 
expect  that  the  College  of  Philadelphia  will  soon  con- 
tribute to  the  improvement  of  our  medical  knowledge 
and  I  think  it  is  happy  that  the  first  institution  of  a 
new  school  has  fallen  into  such  hands.  I  expect  that 
Dr.  Rush  is  to  be  joined  to  your  number  and  you  will 
make  a  valuable  acquisition.  He  has  indeed  applied 
to  every  branch  of  study  with  great  diligence  and  suc- 
cess, but  Chemistry  has  always  been  a  principal  object 
and  I  am  persuaded  he  may  make  a  Figure  in  that 
Profession  much  to  the  credit  of  your  College.  I  wish 
I  could  serve  both  the  College  and  him,  and  if  you 
think  that  my  testimony  and  opinion  can  contribute 
to  either,  you  may  make  what  use  of  my  name  or  this 
letter  you  shall  think  proper."  The  Philadelphia  pa- 
pers in  the  fall  of  1769  carry  the  announcement  of  Dr. 
Rush's  appointment  and  advertise  the  course  of  lec- 
tures, to  be  delivered  by  him.^^  He  found  the  pro- 
fessorship useful  in  establishing  his  reputation  and  in 

^'  Rush  MSS..  Vol.  24,  p.  54. 

**  Pennsylvania  Chronicle,  Aug.  17(-9. 


28  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

giving  him  an  immediate  income  until  he  was  able  to 
build  up  a  practice. 

On  his  return  from  Europe  Dr.  Rush  took  a  resi- 
dence in  Second  vStreet,  Philadelphia,  but  later  re- 
moved to  a  house  in  Front  Street  near  Walnut,  which 
he  occupied  until  1780.  At  once  began  the  struggle 
for  patients.  Much  of  his  earliest  practice  was  among 
the  poor  who  could  not  pay  much,  however  good  their 
intentions.  While  this  desire,  to  aid  the  poor,  was 
strongly  reinforced  by  his  philanthropic  spirit,  a  spirit 
which  pervades  much  of  his  conduct  throughout  his 
life,  it  was  also  prompted  by  more  material  considera- 
tions. He  had  no  wealthy  connections ;  and,  if  he  had 
had  them  at  first,  his  espousal  of  the  patriot  cause 
would  have  severed  them  before  long,  for  many  of  the 
men  of  wealth  and  property  were  loyalists.  In  telling 
the  story  of  these  early  years,  he  says :  "My  shop  was 
crowded  with  the  poor  in  the  morning  and  at  meal- 
times, and  nearly  every  street  and  alley  in  the  city 
was  visited  by  me  every  day.^^  There  are  few  old  huts 
now  standing^°  in  the  ancient  parts  of  the  city  in  which 
I  have  not  attended  sick  people.  Often  have  I  ascend- 
ed [to]  the  upper  story  of  these  huts  by  a  ladder  and 

"The  population   of   Philadelphia  when   Rush   began   to 
practice,  or  in  1770  say,  was  about  25,000. 

=^  About  1805. 


EARLY  LIFE  AND  TRAINING  29 

many  hundred  times  have  I  been  obliged  to  rest  my 
weary  limbs  upon  the  bedside  of  the  sick,  from  want 
of  chairs,  where  I  was  sure  I  risqued,  not  only  taking 
their  disease  but  being  infected  with  vermin.  More 
than  once  did  I  suffer  from  the  latter.  Nor  did  I 
hasten  from  these  abodes  of  poverty  and  misery. 
Where  no  other  help  was  attainable  I  have  often  re- 
mained in  them  long  enough  to  administer  my  own 
prescriptions,  particularly  bleeding,  with  my  own 
hands." 

Neither  the  wealthy  nor  his  brother  physicians 
would  aid  Dr.  Rush  in  the  building  up  of  a  worthy 
practice.  The  latter  class,  indeed,  he  estranged  and 
offended  by  publicly  and  sometimes  indiscreetly  cham- 
pioning a  system  of  medicine  different  from  that  used 
by  the  older  and  established  physicians  of  the  city. 
The  prevailing  system  of  medical  principles  and  prac- 
tice in  America  at  that  time  was  Dr.  Boerhaave's,  so 
named  from  its  author.  Dr.  Rush  had  been  taught  in 
Edinburgh  according  to  the  system  of  Dr.  Cullen  and 
at  first  adhered  to  it  in  his  practice  and  attempted  to 
spread  its  tenets  among  the  profession.  But  his  meth- 
ods were  not  always  of  the  best.  Thus  at  a  dinner, 
attended  by  a  number  of  medical  students,  he  offered 
the  toast,  "Speedy  interment  to  the  system  of  Dr. 
Boerhaave,  and  may  it  never  rise  again,"  a  speech  that 
was,  of  course,  promptly  reported  to  the  physicians 


30  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

practicing  and  teaching  that  system.  The  ire  of  those 
men  was  naturally  provoked  and  Dr.  Rush's  conduct 
was  condemned.  The  system  of  Dr.  Cullen,  which 
he  championed,  was  misrepresented  and  ridiculed  in 
the  newspapers  and  Dr.  Rush's  name  connected  with 
it.  As  a  consequence  he  says,  '*I  do  not  recollect  in 
the  course  of  the  first  seven  years'  settlement  in  Phila- 
delphia that  any  one  of  my  brethren  ever  sent  a  pa- 
tient to  me,  and  yet  several  of  them  had  more  appli- 
cations daily  than  they  were  able  to  attend  to."  "Per- 
haps," he  also  says,  "my  manner  of  recommending  it 
[i.  e.  the  system  of  Dr.  Cullen]  provoked  this  opposi- 
tion for  I  know  by  experience,  as  well  as  observation, 
that  an  indiscreet  zeal  for  truth,  justice  or  humanity 
has  cost  more  to  the  persons  who  have  exercised  it, 
than  the  total  want  of  zeal  for  anything  good  or  even 
zeal  in  false  and  unjust  pursuits."  The  opposition, 
even  hatred,  aroused  by  his  teaching  this  new  system 
and  by  his  manner  of  doing  it,  as  well  as  the  envy  of 
smaller  and  less  successful  men,  followed  him  through- 
out his  life,  and  only  about  a  year  before  his  death  he 
said  that  of  all  his  offenses  that  of  "teaching  a  new 
system  of  physic"  was  the  worst. 3'  We  will  see  some 
effects  of  this  opposition  further  on ;  meanwhile  we 
must  not  over-emphasize  it.  Dr.  Rush's  sympa- 
thetic heart  was  very  responsive  to  both  praise  and 

"  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  29,  p.  138. 


EARLY   LIFE  AND  TRAINING  ^  31 

blame  and  it  would  seem  as  if  he  sometimes  felt  a 
little  too  keenly  the  criticisms,  the  calumnies  even, 
of  his  fellow  physicians.  Some  of  them,  and  they 
very  celebrated  in  the  profession,  always  remained 
his  friends.  To  cite  only  one  instance,  his  first 
teacher  in  medicine,  Dr.  John  Redman,  President 
of  the  College  of  Physicians  of  Philadelphia,  from  its 
foundation  in  1786  to  his  death  in  1808  was  alwa3^s  his 
friend  and  admirer. 


On  January  11,  1776,  Doctor  Rush  was  married  to 
Julia,  the  eldest  daughter  of  that  Richard  Stockton 
who  joined  his  new  son-in-law  in  becoming  a  signer 
of  the  great  Declaration  the  following  summer.  The 
ceremony  was  performed  at  "Morven",  Mr.  Stockton's 
residence,  by  the  Reverend  John  Witherspoon,  an- 
other signer  and  the  President  of  Princeton  College. 

Years  afterward  the  lover  and  husband  wrote,  for 
the  benefit  of  a  friend  in  Scotland,  a  description  of  Mrs. 
Rush.  "In  January,  1776,"  he  says,  "I  married  the 
eldest  daughter  of  your  old  acquaintance,  Mr.  Richard 
Stockton.  She  was  then  only  sixteen  years  old.  She 
was  admired  for  her  beauty,  but  her  temper,  prudence, 
understanding  and  excellent  accomplishments  attract- 
ed and  fixed  my  heart.  Figure  to  yourself  a  woman  of 
your  own  size,  brown  hair,  dark  eyes,  a  complexion 


^2  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

composed  of  white  and  red,  a  countenance  at  the  same 
time  soft  and  animated,  a  voice  mild  and  musical  and 
a  pronunciation  accompanied  with  a  little  lisp  and  you 
will  then  have  an  idea  of  the  person  and  manner  of  my 
dear  Mrs.  Rush." 

''I  am  afraid  to  trust  myself  upon  the  subject  of 
her  character.  The  lover  will  blend  itself  with  the 
writer.  Think  only  what  the  friend,  companion,  wife, 
in  the  full  meaning  of  each  of  those  words,  should  be 
and  you  will  then  have  a  just  idea  of  my  happiness." 

Doctor  Rush  used  to  tell  with  pride  that  on  the 
night  of  his  graduation  from  Princeton  he  carried  his 
future  bride  in  his  arms  from  the  College  to  her  fa- 
ther's home.  She  was  then  less  than  two  years  old. 
Mrs.  Rush  outlived  her  husband  by  thirty-five  years. 
She  died  at  her  little  farm  "Sydenham",  now  Fifteenth 
Street  and  Columbia  Avenue,  Philadelphia,  in  her 
ninetieth  year  (1848).  They  sleep  together  under  the 
trees  on  the  east  side  of  the  old  Christ  Church  burying 
ground. 

Of  the  thirteen  children  born  to  Doctor  and  Mrs. 
Rush  only  nine  arrived  at  maturity.  The  eldest,  John, 
became  a  lieutenant  in  the  United  States  Navy ;  Rich- 
ard was  a  lawyer,  diplomat,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
and  Attorney-General  of  the  United  States,  the  most 
distinguished   son   of  a   distinguished   father;    James, 


EARLY  LIFE  AND  TRAINING  33 

like  the  father,  was  educated  in  Edinburgh,  followed 
his  father's  profession  and  at  his  death  endowed  the 
Ridgway  library,  Philadelphia. 


CHAPTER  11. 

RUSH  IN  THE  REVOLUTION 

Leaving  Dr.  Rush's  labors  as  a  pamphleteer  and 
writer  on  political  subjects  for  separate  discussion  we 
will  here  recount  chiefly  his  connection  with  the  Revo- 
lutionary war  in  official  capacities  together  with  some 
account  of  his  famous  dispute  with  Dr.  Shippen  and 
the  resulting  break  with  Washington. 

In  his  "Memoirs"  Rush  says  that  he  had  become 
acquainted  with  the  questions  then  agitating  America, 
particularly  the  opposition  to  the  Stamp  Act  and  the 
arguments  against  that  ill-timed  measure.^  In  his  cor- 
respondence we  see  that  he  at  once  took  his  stand  with 
the  most  radical  section  of  Pennsylvania,  against  taxa- 
tion by  England.^  In  the  "Memoirs"  he  tells  us  that 
he  "turned  republican  in  Edinburgh";  but  in  this  state- 
ment his  memory  plays  him  false,  as  we  have  seen, 
although  it  may  well  be  that  his  opposition  to  "heredi- 
tary monarchies"  had  formed  itself  by  this  time. 

'  Rush  "Memoirs",  p.  80. 

'Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  39,  pp.  1-21,  passim. 


36  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

On  his  return  from  Europe  he  took  an  "early  but 
obscure"  part  in  the  controversy  with  Britain.  From 
1770  to  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  he  wrote  several 
"newspaper  essays"  and  became  quickly  acquainted 
with  the  men  who  were  then  forming  public  opinion  in 
Pennsylvania, — John  Dickinson,  Charles  Thomson, 
afterwards  secretary  to  the  Continental  Congress  and 
to  the  Constitutional  Convention,  Thomas  Mifflin, 
afterwards  General,  and  George  Clymer.  These  and 
others,  less  well  known,  wrote  in  favor  of  American 
liberty  ''under  a  variety  of  signatures  by  which  means 
an  impression  of  numbers  in  favor  of  liberty  was  made 
upon  the  minds  of  its  friends  and  enemies."^ 

The  first  Continental  Congress  met  in  Philadelphia 
September  5,  1774.  Rush,  in  company  with  a  number 
of  hospitable  Philadelphians  went  to  Frankford  to 
meet  some  of  the  delegates  to  the  Congress  from  the 
New  England  colonies  who  were  approaching  the  city 
on  August  29th  of  that  year.  In  the  "Memoirs"  Dr. 
Rush  tells  us  that  he  "rode  back  into  town  in  the  same 
carriage  with  John  Adams"  and  some  other  gentle- 
men.^  From  Adams'  diary  for  this  period  we  may 
gather  the  import  of  some  of  the  conversation  of  that 
day.  "Aug.  29,  [1774].  After  dinner  we  stopped  at 
Frankford,  5  miles  out  of  town.    A  number  of  gentle- 

*  Rush  "Memoirs",  p.  80. 

*  Rush  "Memoirs",  p.  80. 


IN  THE  REVOLUTION  Z7 

men  came  out  from  Philadelphia  to  meet  us.  A  gentle- 
man who  returned  into  town  with  Mr.  Paine  [Robert 
Treat]  and  me  in  our  coach,  undertook  to  caution  us 
against  two  gentlemen  particularly;  one  was  Dr. 
Smith,  the  provost  of  the  College,  who  is  looking  up 
to  government  for  an  American  episcopate  and  a  pair 
of  lawn  sleeves.  Soft,  polite,  insinuating,  adulating, 
sensible,  learned,  industrious,  indefatigable ;  he  has 
had  art  enough  and  refinement  upon  art  to  make  im- 
pressions even  upon  Mr.  Dickinson  and  Mr.  Reed."^ 
Dr.  Rush  reports  further  that  John  and  Samuel  Adams 
"domesticated  themselves"^  in  his  family.  Although 
they  cannot  have  stayed  there  very  long,  there  is  some 
indication  that  John  Adams,  at  least,  lodged  there  for 
a  short  time,  for  he  says :  "Dr.  Rush  lives  on  Water 
Street  and  has  from  the  window  of  his  back  room  and 
chamber  a  fine  view  of  the  Delaware  River  and  of  New 
Jersey  beyond  it."^  Rush  and  Adams  saw  a  great  deal 
of  each  other,  and,  as  they  remained  firm  friends 
throughout  their  lives,  it  is  interesting  to  notice  the 
impression  the  young  doctor  made  on  the  statesman. 
The  following  extract  from  Adams'  diary  also  gives  us 
Rush's  opinion  of  Dickinson,  who  was  associated  with 

^  Charles   Francis   Adams,   The   Works   of  John   Adams, 
1850,  Vol.  II,  pp.  357,  358. 
'  Rush  "Memoirs",  p.  80. 
^Adams'  Diary;  Works,  Vol.  II,  pp.  357,  358. 


3S  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

him  in  the  founding  of  Dickinson  College  about  ten 
years  later.  Adams  writes:^  "Oct.  24,  Sunday.  [1775]. 
Dr.  Rush  came  in.  He  is  an  elegant,  ingenious  body, 
a  sprightly  pretty  fellow.  He  is  a  republican ;  he  has 
been  much  in  London,^  acquainted  with  Sawbridge, 
Macaulay,  Burgh  and  others  of  that  stamp.  Dilly 
sends  him  books  and  pamphlets,  and  Sawbridge  and 
Macaulay  correspond  with  him.  He  complains  of 
D[ickinson]  ;  says  the  committee  of  safety  are  not  the 
representatives  of  the  people,  therefore  not  their  legis- 
lators ;  yet  they  have  been  making  laws,  a  whole  code, 
for  a  navy.  This  committee  was  chosen  by  the  House, 
but  half  of  them  are  not  members,  and  therefore  not 
the  choice  of  the  people.  All  this  is  just.  He  mentions 
many  particular  instances  in  which  Dickinson  has 
blundered ;  he  thinks  him  warped  by  Quaker  interest 
and  by  church  interest,  too ;  he  thinks  his  reputation 
past  the  meridian  and  that  avarice  is  growing  upon 
him.  Says  that  Henry  and  Mifflin  both  complained  to 
him  very  much  about  him.  But  Rush,  I  think,  is  too 
much  of  a  talker  to  be  a  deep  thinker;  elegant,  not 
great." 

While  the  stage  was  being  set  for  the  Revolution- 
ary drama,  Rush  remained  merely  an  interested  spec- 

*  Works  of  John  Adams,  Vol.  II,  pp.  427,  428. 
"  Rush  was  not  the  man  to  belittle  his  own  connections 
and  advantages.    There  is,  however,  no  misstatement  of  fact. 


IN  THE  REVOLUTION  39 

tator,  although  associating  intimately  with  some  of  the 
principal  actors.  But  the  19th  of  xA.pril,  1775,  braced 
the  whole  country  for  the  tragedy  that  was  now  seen 
to  be  inevitable.  "The  battle  of  Lexington  gave  a 
new  tone  to  our  feelings  and  I  now  resolved  to  bear 
my  share  of  the  duties  and  burdens  of  the  approaching 
revolution,"  says  the  patriotic  doctor.  Accordingly 
we  find  Dr.  Rush  appointed  to  a  professional  position 
in  the  Penns^dvania  navy  of  which  we  have  just  heard. 
At  a  meeting,  held  on  July  3,  1775,  the  Committee  of 
Safety,  of  which  Franklin  was  president,  decided  to 
build  a  fleet  of  gunboats  to  ply  on  the  Delaware  for 
the  protection  of  the  city.  The  fleet  took  shape  as  if 
by  magic  and  by  the  middle  of  September  there  Avere 
thirteen  small  gunboats,  constructed  at  a  cost  of  over 
£7000,  in  commission.  The  Bulldog  was  constructed 
in  sixteen  days;  the  Experiment  almost  as  quickly. 
Others  bore  such  patriotic  and  patriot  names  as  Lib- 
erty, Franklin,  Dickinson  and  Hancock.  Dr.  Benja- 
min Rush  was  appointed  fleet-surgfeon  with  Dr.  Sam- 
uel Duffield,  assistant. '°  Dr.  Rush  accepted  his  com- 
mission September  27th  and  held  it  until  the  following 
July,  when,  as  we  shall  see,  he  resigned  to  accept  a 
more  important  ofifice."    In  the  same  year  (1775),  he 

"  Scharf  and  Westcott,  Vol.  I,  p.  299. 

"W.  H.  Egle  in  Penna.  Mag.  of  History  and  Biography, 
Vol.  XI,  p.  262. 


40  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

was  appointed  a  member  of  a  committee  of  six  to  su- 
perintend a  saltpeter  factory,  established  in  a  building 
on  High  (now  Market)  Street. ^- 

In  June,  1776,  he  was  a  member  of  the  Provincial 
Conference,  which  met  at  Carpenters  Hall,  Philadel- 
phia, from  the  eighteenth  to  the  twenty-fifth  of  that 
month.  On  the  twenty-third,  he  moved  for  a  commit- 
tee to  draft  an  address  or  declaration  on  the  question 
of  the  independence  of  the  American  colonies.  James 
Smith,  Thomas  McKean  and  Dr.  Rush,  Chairman, 
were  appointed  a  committee  for  this  purpose.  The 
next  day  (the  twenty-fourth)  the  committee  reported 
a  declaration  which  was  adopted  in  the  Conference  and 
presented  to  the  American  Congress  the  day  following. 
"This  Declaration,  even  in  its  phraseology,  anticipated 
almost  the  whole  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence."'3 

But  we  are  anticipating.  Indirectly  he  had  set  in 
motion  a  force  that  had  momentous  consequences  and 

"Scharf  and  Westcott.  Vol.  I,  p.  301. 

"This  somewhat  too  sweeping  statement  is  quoted  by  J. 
S.  J[ohnson]  in  "A  Criticism  of  Mr.  W.  B.  Reed's  Asper- 
sions on  the  Character  of  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush",  Philadelphia. 
1867,  p.  55.  For  a  complete  account  of  the  work  of  the  Con- 
ference of  1776,  see  "The  Proceedings  Relative  to  the  Calling 
of  the  Conventions  of  1776  and  1790",  etc.,  Harrisburg,  1825, 
pp.  35-45.  Also  noticed  in  W.  H.  Egle,  Penna.  Mag.  of  His- 
tory and  Biography,  Vol.  XI.  p.  262. 


IN  THE  REVOLUTION  41 

that  prepared  the  way  for  the  work  of  the  Conference 
we  have  just  noticed.  He  suggested  the  preparation 
of  the  most  influential  political  pamphlet  of  the  Revo- 
lution, one  of  the  most  telling  political  thrusts  of  aP 
time.  This  was  the  pamphlet,  written  by  Thomas 
Paine,  the  Thetford  staymaker.  At  Paine's  suggestion 
Rush  gave  it  its  name,  ''Common  Sense".  Rush  and 
Paine  met  through  Robert  Aitken,  a  Philadelphia  pub- 
lisher and  bookseller  and  Paine's  employer.  They 
found  their  first  point  of  contact  in  their  mutual  oppo- 
sition to  slavery.  Rush  had  written,  several  years  be- 
fore, two  papers  on  slavery  that  had  called  out  the  ire 
of  some  of  the  slaveholders  in  the  West  Indies,  where 
slavery  was  then  firmly  entrenched  and  very  profit- 
able. Paine,  who  arrived  in  America  in  November, 
1774,  wrote  an  anti-slavery  article  soon  afterwards, 
which  was  published  by  Bradford  the  following  year. 
The  article  was  signed  "J^^stice  and  Humanity",  and 
Mr.  Paine  having  been  pointed  out  to  Dr.  Rush  as  the 
author,  he  stopped  to  thank  him  for  taking  up  a  cause 
in  which  he  also  was  himself  so  much  interested.  The 
two  men  soon  found  that  they  agreed  also  in  their  po- 
litical views  and  now  for  some  time  saw  a  good  deal  of 
each  other,  particularly  as  they  were  both  members  of 
the  American  Philosophical  Society.  After  Lexington 
both  men  came  to  the  conclusion  that  independence 
was  the  only  solution  to  the  problems  agitating  Amer- 


42  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

ica,  but  neither  was  prepared  to  face  the  odium  that 
was  likely  to  go  with  a  public  avowal  of  the  belief. 
Rush,  indeed,  had  begun  the  preparation  of  an  address 
to  the  colonies  in  which  he  intended  to  muster  every 
argument  for  immediate  independence.  But  apparent- 
ly he  had  not  yet  quite  determined  to  publish  his  views 
when  he  met  Paine  and  decided  that  this  writer  was 
more  eligible  for  the  work.  Rush  very  frankly  tells 
us  that  he  informed  Paine  of  his  own  unwillingness 
to  incur  the  risk  to  which  such  a  publication  might 
expose  him.  His  profession  and  connections  tied  him 
to  Philadelphia,  where  a  majority  of  the  citizens — and 
some  of  them,  his  friends — were  hostile  to  the  idea  of 
a  separation  from  the  mother  country.  Paine,  so  Rush 
urged,  could  live  anywhere,  and  having  only  recently 
come  to  the  city,  he  would,  no  doubt,  feel  less  sorry 
to  leave  it,  if  it  should  become  necessary.  Paine  agreed 
to  undertake  the  work.  From  time  to  time  he  called 
at  the  Doctor's  house  "and  read  to  me,"  says  Rush, 
"every  chapter  of  the  proposed  pamphlet  as  he  com- 
posed it."  When  it  was  finished,  Rush  advised  him 
to  show  it  to  Franklin,  David  Rittenhouse  and  Samuel 
Adams,  all  of  whom  were  in  favor  of  independence. 
Rush  further  says :  "I  mention  these  facts  to  refute  a 
report  that  Mr.  Paine  was  assisted  in  composing  his 
pamphlet  by  one  or  more  of  these  gentlemen.  They 
never  saw  it  until  it  was  written  and  then  only  by  my 


IN  THE  REVOLUTION  43 

advice.  I  gave  it,  at  his  request,  the  title  of  'Common 
Sense'."^*  Dr.  Rush  also  found  a  printer  for  the  work, 
since  Paine  had  difficulty  in  finding  a  publisher  bold 
enough  to  undertake  it.^^  After  all,  Paine,  who  had  now 
held  a  congenial  position  as  editor  of  a  magazine  for 
about  a  year,  felt  that  he  had  something  to  lose.  Deci- 
ding to  avoid  a  possible  storm,  he  put  it  out  anony- 
mously, addressed  to  the  '^inhabitants  of  North  Amer- 
ica". It  was  published  January  10,  1776,  "by  Robert 
Bell  in  Third  Street,  price,  two  shillings."  Of  the  book 
itself  this  is  not  the  place  to  speak  and  its  reception 

^*  Rush,  "Memoirs",  p.  82  ff.  M.  C.  Tyler  has  pointed  out 
that  Rush's  title  had  been  used  on  two  previous  occasions,  in 
1739  and  in  1775  respectively,  as  the  designation  of  political 
pamphlets.  See  Tyler's  Literary  History  of  the  American 
Revolution  I,  p.  458  n.,  and  Thomas'  History  of  Printing  II,  p. 
151,  n. 

^"  Moncure  D,  Conway,  The  Life  of  Thomas  Paine.  2 
Vols.  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons.  1909.  Vol.  I,  p.  68.  Of  Conway's 
■'Thomas  Paine",  Moses  Coit  Tyler  says,  it  is  "a  book  not 
exactly  belonging  to  disinterested  biography,  and  yet  by  far 
the  most  valuable  contribution  thus  far  made  to  our  material 
for  a  true  understanding  of  Paine's  career."' 

In  my  account  of  the  whole  matter,  I  have  followed  Dr. 
Rush's  "Memoirs",  which  Mr.  Conway  apparently  had  not  seen. 
For,  if  he  had,  he  could  not  have"  said,  that  Rush  "probably" 
saw  "Common  Sense"  before  it  was  published.  Mr.  Conway, 
however,  shows  that  Franklin  most  probably  did  not  con- 
tribute anything  to  the  book.  It  is  to  be  noted  also  that 
Rush  makes  no  claim  to  authorship  in  connection  with  the 
work. 


44  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

and  results  are  familiar  to  all  readers  of  American  his- 
tory. 

In  the  summer  of  1776,  Pennsylvania  elected  a  new 
delegation  to  represent  her  in  the  Continental   Con- 
gress, and  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  who  was  one  of  the 
nine  men  designated,  took  his  seat  on  the  twentieth 
day  of  July  about  two  weeks  after  the  adoption  of  the 
Declaration   of   Independence.      His   career   of   seven 
months  in  the  Congress,  so  far  as  it  has  been  reported, 
was  not  especially  noteworthy.    And  indeed  the  power 
and    importance    of   Congress    itself   declined    rapidly 
after  the  supreme  effort — the  adoption  of  the  Declara- 
tion— was  over.     However,  from  the  number  of  com- 
mittees on  which  he  served,  it  is  apparent  that  he  bore 
his  full  share  of  the  "duties  and  burdens"  of  the  body, 
while  he  was  a  member.    On  August  6th  he  was  added 
to  the  Committee  appointed  earlier  to  inquire  into  and 
remedy  the  defects  of  the  powder  made  at  the  mills. ^^ 
The  next  day  he  was  similarly  added  to  the  "medical" 
committee.     On  September  twenty-fourth  he  was  ap- 
pointed chairman   of  a  committee  of  five  "to  devise 
ways  and  means  for  effectually  providing  the  northern 
army   with   provisions   and   medicines   and   supplying 

'*  Journals  of  Congress.  There  are  many  editions  of  the 
"Journals"  of  Congress;  but  the  statements  cited  on  this  and 
following  pages  may  easily  bei  found  by  means  of  the  dates, 
which  are  given.  In  1904  the  Library  of  Congress  began 
printing  a  definitive  edition  under  the  direction  of  W.  C.  Ford. 


IN  THE  REVOLUTION  45 

their  other  necessary  wants."  On  October  eighth  he 
was  added  to  a  committee  on  the  state  of  the  prisoners 
of  war.  Nine  days  later  he  was  made  chairman  of  a 
"committee  of  intelligence  to  select  and  report  such 
authentic  accounts  of  the  state  of  the  army  and  navy 
as  should  be  published  by  Congress."  This  list,  while 
not  complete,  is  sufficient  to  show  the  nature  of  the 
tasks  that  fell  to  his  lot  as  a  delegate  in  the  Revolu- 
tion.^^ 

In  the  Secret  Journals  of  Congress  under  date  of 
July  19,  1776,  we  find  that  it  was  that  day,  ''Resolved 
that  the  declaration,  passed  on  the  4th,  be  fairly  en- 
grossed on  parchment,  with  the  title  and  style  of  'The 
Unanimous  Declaration  of  the  Thirteen  United  States 
of  America'  and  that  the  same,  when  engrossed,  be 
signed  by  every  member."  On  August  2,  "the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence  being  engrossed,  and  compared 
at  the  table,  was  signed  by  the  members. "^^  Benjamin 
Rush's  name,  standing  between  those  of  Franklin  and 
Robert  Morris,  was  thus  placed  on  the  roll  of  honor — 
the  list  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence. We  have  already  seen  that  he  had  not  been  a 
member  of  the  Congress  when  the  Declaration  was 
adopted.    He  was,  therefore,  one  of  the  seven  so-called 

"  All  these  details  are  copied  from  the  Journals  of  Con- 
gress for  1776. 

^*  Secret  Journals  of  Congress. 


46  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

after-signers — Ross,  Taylor,  Smith,  Clymer,  Williams, 
Thornton  and  Rush.  Although  it  was  thus  only  by 
sheer  good  fortune  that  Rush  became  a  Signer  we 
should  not  question  his  right  to  the  distinction,  for  he 
was  one  of  the  first  patriots  to  see  the  wisdom  of  inde- 
pendence, and  he  labored  constantly,  if  not  always 
boldly,  to  prepare  the  country  for  the  necessary  step. 
While  Rush  was  a  member  of  the  Congress,  that 
body  had  under  consideration  the  Articles  of  Confed- 
eration. We  catch  a  glimpse  of  his  true  mettle  in  his 
best  moments  in  a  speech  epitomised  for  us  by  John 
Adams.  One  of  the  questions  on  which  there  was 
serious  difference  of  opinion  concerned  the  method  of 
voting  in  Congress  that  should  be  incorporated  into 
the  Articles.  Some  delegates,  usually  those  from  the 
smaller  states,  contended  that  voting  should  be  by 
states ;  others,  chiefly  those  from  the  larger  states, 
held  that  the  number  of  votes  should  be  proportional 
to  the  number  of  inhabitants.  Franklin  particularly 
pointed  out  that  the  states  who  furnished  the  larger 
number  of  men  and  the  greater  amount  of  money 
should  be  given  the  greater  voice  in  the  direction  of 
them.  On  this  question  Rush  supported  Franklin's 
argument  in  a  speech  delivered  on  August  1st.  He 
said,  *'We  are  now  a  new  nation.  The  more  a  man 
aims  at  serving  America,  the  more  he  will  serve  his 
colony.     I  would  not  have  it  understood  that  I  am 


IN  THE  REVOLUTION  47 

pleading  the  cause  of  Pennsylvania ;    when  I  entered 
that  door  I  considered  myself  a  citizen  of  America. "'^ 
Although  the  sentiment  was  not  unique,  it  expresses 
perfectly  the  high-minded  patriotism  that  dominated 
and  permeated  Dr.  Rush's  entire  career.     He  was  a 
member  of  the   Continental   Congress   for   one   term 
only.     He,  therefore,  vacated  his  seat  Feb   17,   1777, 
when  the  Pennsylvania  Assembly  returned  a  new  dele- 
gation of  representatives. ^°     Several  reasons  were  as- 
signed for  his  failure  to  be  returned  for  a  second  term. 
It  has  been  said  that  it  was  due  to  the  sudden  ascend- 
ancy of  the  "Old-side"  Presbyterians  in  the  politics  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  also  that  it  was  caused  by  the  ene- 
mies he  had  made  through  his  strenuous  opposition  to 
the  state  constitution  of  1776,  which  provided  for  a 
unicameral  legislative  body.   The  latter  is  his  own  ex- 
planation.   He  opposed  that  constitution — as  did  John 
Dickinson — on  the  ground  that  it  failed  to  supply  an 
effective  system  of  those  checks  and  balances  so  popu- 

'"John  Adams,  Works,  Vol.11,  p.  428.  Adams  quotes  a  sim- 
ilar speech  by  Patrick  Henry  in  the  first  Continental  Con- 
gress in  1774:  "Where  are  your  landmarks,  your  boundaries 
of  colonies?  ...  I  am  not  a  Virginian,  but  an  American." 
Works,  Vol.  II,  pp.  366,  367. 

""  Diary  of  James  Allen,  Pa.  Mag.  of  History  and  Biog- 
raphy, Vol,  9,  p.  278.  The  Journals  of  Congress  note  the 
presentation  of  the  credentials  of  the  new  delegation  as  hav- 
ing occurred  March  12.  But  as  Rush's  name  does  not  occur 
after  February  17  that  date  is  probably  correct. 


48  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

lar  with  the  Revolutionary  fathers.  He  wrote  four 
''Letters  on  the  Defects  of  the  Pennsylvania  Consti- 
tution,'' and  his  reasoning  was  amply  justified  by  the 
events  of  the  next  few  years.  The  Pennsylvania  con- 
stitution of  1776  with  its  Censors,  its  Executive  Coun- 
cil, whose  president  held  the  highest  executive  posi- 
tion, and  its  single  legislative  body,  lasted  until  1790, 
when  Rush  had  the  satisfaction  of  helping  to  frame  a 
better  one.    (See  page  72.) 

In  a  few  months  after  leaving  Congress  he  again 
accepted  office,  but  this  time  his  duties  were  of  a  pro- 
fessional nature.  He  was  with  the  main  army  and 
exhibited  his  usual  splendid  efficiency  in  the  brilliant 
campaign  that  resulted  in  the  victories  of  Trenton 
and  Princeton.  In  April,  1777,  he  was  appointed 
Surgeon-General  of  the  armies  of  the  Middle  Depart- 
ment, but  in  July  his  title  was  changed  to  Physician- 
General  of  the  military  hospitals  of  the  same  district. 
He  continued  in  the  service  afterwards,  until  the  30th 
of  January,  1778,  when  he  resigned. 

The  reasons  for  his  resignation  will  uncover  an  un- 
happy passage  in  Dr.  Rush's  life.  As  Physician-Gen- 
eral he  was  under  the  command  of  Dr.  Shippen,  the 
Director-General.  He  soon  became  convinced — wheth- 
er rightly  or  wrongly — that  his  immediate  superior  not 
only  neglected  his  duties,  but  was  also  dishonest  to 
the  point  of  appropriating  to  his  private  use  supplies 


IN  THE  REVOLUTION  49 

that  had  been  furnished  for  the  relief  of  the  wounded 
soldiers.  He  notified  General  Washington  of  the  un- 
sanitary condition  of  the  hospitals  and,  in  two  sep- 
arate letters,  accused  Dr.  Shippen  of  mal-practices. 
Washington  referred  these  letters  to  Congress,  then 
at  Yorktown.  Dr.  Rush  repaired  thither  and  appeared 
before  the  committee  appointed  to  hear  his  testimony 
Dr.  Shippen,  however,  was  acquitted,  and  Dr.  Rush 
resigned  in  disgust.  The  following  year  Dr.  Morgan 
renewed  the  charges  and  had  Dr.  Shippen  brought 
before  a  court-martial.  But  he  was  acquitted  by  a 
single  vote.^^ 

Whatever  were  the  actual  merits  in  the  case,  it  is 
of  interest  to  know  how  the  whole  situation  appealed 
to  Dr.  Rush.  The  following  quotation  from  one  of 
his  letters  gives  us  this  knowledge. ^^  "In  April  or  May, 

^^  The  story  of  the  court-martial  is  a  long  one  and  the 
charges  and  counter  charges,  the  progress  of  the  trial,  the 
verdict  and  the  comment  of  the  public  thereon  may  be  read 
in  the"  press  of  the  period.  There  was  friction  between  Dr. 
Morgan  and  Dr.  Shippen  dating  from  the  time  when  the 
former  secured  his  appointment  to  the  first  medical  chair 
established  in  America  (at  the  College  of  Philadelphia),  May 
3,  1765.  Dr.  Shippen  had  given  private  medical  lectures  since 
1762  and  had  suggested  the  establishment  of  a  medical  school 
about  the  same  time.  Dr.  Rush  was  a  personal  and  profes- 
sional friend  of  Dr.  Morgan. 

'^  Rush  to  John  Adams,  Feb.  12,  1812.  Rush  MSS.,  Vol. 
29,  p.   136.     Although   this  letter  was  written  only  about  a 


50  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

1777,  I  accepted,"  says  Dr.  Rush,  '*of  the  appointment 
of  physician-general  of  the  military  hospitals  of  the 
United  States  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Shippen. 
Here  I  saw  scenes  of  distress  touching  [  ?word  illeg- 
ible] to  humanity,  and  disgraceful  to  a  civilized  coun- 
try. I  can  never  forget  them.  I  still  see  the  sons  of  our 
yeomanry  brought  up  in  the  lap  of  plenty  and  do- 
mestic comforts,  shivering  with  cold  upon  the  bare 
floors  without  a  blanket  to  cover  them,  calling  for  fire, 
for  water,  for  suitable  food,  for  medicines,  and  calling 
in  vain.  I  hear  the  complaints  they  utter  against  their 
country, — I  hear  the  sighs  for  their  fathers'  firesides, — 
I  hear  their  groans, — I  see  them  expire — while  hun- 
dreds of  the  flower  of  our  youth  were  dying  under  such 
accumulated  sufferings  Dr.  Shippen  was  feasting  with 
the  general  officers  at  the  camp,  or  bargaining  with 
tavern-keepers  in  Jersey  or  Pennsylvania  for  the  sale 
of  Madeira  wine  from  our  hospital  stores,  bought  for 
the  use  of  the  sick.  Nor  was  this  all.  No  officer  was 
ever  sent  to  command  or  preserve  discipline  in  our 
hospital  (a  practice  universal  in  European  armies)  in 
consequence  of  which  our  soldiers  sold  their  blankets, 
muskets  and  even  clothing  for  the  necessaries  of  life 

year  before  the  death  of  its  author,  that  is  about  35  years 
after  the  facts  it  narrates,  it  was  carefully  done,  several 
drafts  being  made  of  which  this  is  the  final  one,  and  there  is 
some  evidence  that  it  was  written  from  earlier  documents  at 
least  in  part. 


IN  THE  REVOLUTION  51 

or  for  ardent  spirits.  In  this  situation  of  our  hospital 
I  addressed  two  letters  to  General  Washington — the 
one  complaining  of  the  above  abuses  and  pointing  out 
their  remedies — the  other  complaining  of  Dr.  Shippen 

for    mal-practices On    my   way    to    Yorktown, 

where  Congress  then  sat,  I  passed  through  the  army  at 
Valley  Forge  where  I  saw  similar  marks  of  filth,  waste 
of  property  and  want  of  discipline  which  I  had  recent- 
ly witnessed  in  the  hospitals.  General  Sullivan  (at 
whose  quarters  I  breakfasted)  said  to  me,  'Sir,  this  is 
not  an  army ;  it  is  a  mob.'  Here  a  new  source  of  dis- 
tress was  awakened  in  my  mind.  I  now  felt  for  the 
safety  and  independence  of  my  country  as  well  as  for 
the  sufferings  of  the  sick  under  my  care."  In  this  let- 
ter we  see  writ  large  those  feelings  and  lively  sensibili- 
ties which  always  did  honor  to  Dr.  Rush's  heart,  and 
that  fervor  of  patriotism  which  made  him  pledge  his 
life  and  fortune  and  sacred  honor  to  his  country.  And 
we  see  also  his  wonted  impulsiveness,  his  anxiety  for 
quick  results,  his  intense  craving  for  a  success  not  at 
that  time  immediately  attainable.  As  a  civilian  he 
could  not  see  all  the  military  difficulties  that  con- 
fronted the  army,  nor  its  financial  difficulties  which 
were,  after  all,  the  prime  cause  of  all  its  miseries. 

In  this  'dark  winter  of  discontent',  while  at  York- 
town,  associating  with  his  acquaintances  in  Congress, 
many  of  them  discouraged  by  the  gloomy  situation  of 


52  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

our  affairs,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  his  friend  Patrick 
Henry,  impeaching  the  military  skill  of  the  comman- 
der-in-chief. The  letter  was  written  early  in  1778  after 
the  success  of  Gates  and  after  the  defeats  of  Brandy- 
wine  and  Germantown.  It  contained  the  following 
passage :  "The  Northern  Army  has  shown  us  what 
Americans  are  capable  of  doing  with  a  General  at  their 
head.  The  spirit  of  the  Southern  Army  is  no  ways  in- 
ferior to  the  spirit  of  the  Northern.  A  Gates,  a  Lee, 
or  a  Conway,  would  in  a  few  weeks  render  them  an 
irresistible  body  of  men.  The  last  of  the  above  officers 
has  accepted  the  new  office  of  Inspector-General  of 
our  army,  in  order  to  reform  abuses ;  but  the  remedy 
is  only  a  palliative  one.  In  one  of  his  letters  to  a 
friend  he  says,  'A  great  and  good  God  hath  decreed 
America  to  be  free,  or  the  General  and  weak  counsel- 
lors would  have  ruined  her  long  ago.'  "  This  letter, 
by  Rush,  although  stating  that  it  was  from  one  of 
"Your  Philadelphia  friends"  was  sent  without  any  sig- 
nature. Henry  sent  the  letter  to  the  commander-in- 
chief  and  on  its  receipt  Washington  replied,  "The 
anonymous  letter  with  which  you  were  pleased  to  fa- 
vor me,  was  written  by  Dr.  Rush,  so  far  as  I  can  judge 
from  a  similitude  of  hands.  This  man  has  been  elabo- 
rate and  studied  in  his  professions  of  regard  for  me ; 
and  that  long  since  his  letter  to  you." 

A  great  deal  has  been  written  about  this  corre- 


IN  THE  REVOLUTION  53 

spondence.  and  it  seems  as  if  Dr.  Rush  had  not  always 
been  accorded  fair  treatment  with  regard  to  the  prob- 
able motives  underlying  the  writing  of  his  letter. 
Many  of  the  historians  of  the  Revolution  refer  to  the 
matter  in  a  tone  of  contempt. ^^  Some  of  them  neglect 
to  correct  the  impression  made  by  that  reference  by 
any  notice  of  the  important  services  which  Dr.  Rush 
performed  for  his  generation.  And  some  of  them  even 
accuse  him  of  direct  connection  with  the  Conway 
Cabal. ^"^    There  is  no  evidence  to  prove  this  charge. 

"^  Hildreth,  A  History,  etc.,  Ill,  p.  135;  Bancroft  V,  pp. 
214,  215;  Hamilton,  A  History  of  the  RepubHc,  I,  pp.  393-395; 
Trevelyan,  The  American  Revolution,  Part  III,  p.  90  and  p. 
317. 

''W.  W.  Henry  (Patrick  Henry,  Life,  etc.,  Vol.  I,  p.  544) 
says  that  Rush  was  an  "accomplice''  of  Gates.  George  Mor- 
gan (The  True  Patrick  Henry,  p.  290)  says  that  Rush  and 
some  others  whom  he  names  "are  thought  to  have  been  active 
in  the  [Conway]  Cabal." 

But  the  bitterest  attack  upon  Dr.  Rush's  character  was 
that  made  by  W.  B.  Reed  in  two  pamphlets:  President  Reed 
of  Pennsylvania.  A  Reply  to  Mr.  George  Bancroft  and 
Others  (see  especially  p.  122)  and  A  Rejoinder  to  Mr.  Ban- 
croft's Historical  Essay  on  President  Reed.  Both  were  pub- 
lished in  Philadelphia,  1867. 

Rush  was  defended  by  J.  G.  J[ohnson]  in  A  Criti- 
cism of  Mr.  W.  B.  Reed's  Aspersions  on  the  Char- 
acter of  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  etc.,  by  a  Member  of  the  Pliila- 
delphia  Bar.  Philadelphia,  1867;  and  by  George  Bancroft  in 
Joseph  Reed,  A  Historical  Essay.  New  York,  1867.  There 
were  also  other  publications  in  this  "War  of  the  Grand- 
fathers", some  of  them  very  scurrilous  and  very  extravagant. 


54  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

Dr.  Rush,  in  his  own  defense,  has  categorically  denied 
all  knowledge  of  the  conspiracy.  His  admiration  for 
Gates  at  this  period  has  to  be  admitted  but  this  was 
shared  by  a  multitude  until  that  General  proved  his 
incompetence  in  the  battle  at  Camden. 

Anonymous  communications  usually  and  properly 
arouse  suspicion ;  and  the  letter  to  Henry  was,  no 
doubt,  both  unwise  and  disingenuous.  But  it  is  only 
simple  justice  to  publish  the  defense  that  Dr.  Rush 
,  himself  wrote.  The  reader  may  draw  his  own  conclu- 
sions from  the  following  letters. 

Copy  of  a  Letter  to  John  Adams  :^5 

Philadelphia,  February  12,  1812. 
My  dear  Sir: 

I  forgot  in  the  enumeration  of  the  hatreds  with 
which  I  have  contended,  to  mention  not  only  the 
''odium  nigrotyrannum"^^  but  the  "odium  Washing- 
tonium."  It  was  of  a  violent  and  of  a  chronic  nature. 
I  will  give  you  a  history  of  its  cause  in  as  few  words 
as  possible.  For  its  not  being  perpetuated  in  the  his- 
tory of  his  life,  I  am  indebted  to  the  goodness  of  his 
nephew,  Judge  Washington. 

In  the  year  1774  I  published  the  note  from  Mr, 
Davies'  sermon  in  which  he  destined  Major  Washing- 

"Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  29,  p.  136. 

**  Refers   to    the   opposition   aroused   by   his    anti-slavery 
papers. 


IN  THE  REVOLUTION  55 

ton  at  a  future  day  to  perform  some  great  services  to 
his  country. 

During  the  sessions  of  Congress  in  the  year  1774 
in  Philadelphia  I  met  Colonel  Washington  at  the  cof- 
fee house  at  the  time  he  was  generally  spoken  of  as 
Commander  in  Chief  of  the  American  Army,  and  in- 
formed him  that  his  appointment  would  give  universal 
satisfaction  to  the  citizens  of  Pennsylvania  and  hoped 
he  would  not  decline  it.  I  had  reason  to  believe  that 
he  considered  this  opinion  as  an  expression  of  attach- 
ment to  his  military  character  never  to  be  cancelled, 
and  that  a  subsequent  change  of  that  opinion  was  an 
evidence  of  insincerity.  The  sequel  of  this  letter  will 
show  that  I  was  not  singular  in  this  respect. 

In  the  summer  of  1776,  or  thereabouts  I  dined  in  a 
select  company  with  General,  then  Colonel  Stevens, 
on  his  way  from  Virginia  to  the  Camp.  I  sat  next  to 
him.  He  asked  me  who  constituted  General  Wash- 
ington's military  family.  I  said  "two  of  them  were 
Colonel  Jos.  Reed  and  Major  Thomas  Mifflin."  "Are 
they  men  of  talents?"  said  he.  "Yes,"  said  I.  "I  am 
glad  to  hear  it  (said  the  Colonel)  for  General  Wash- 
ington will  require  such  men  about  him.  He  is  a  weak 
man.  I  know  him  well.  I  served  with  h'm  in  the  last 
French  war  in  America." 

After  the  defeats  and  retreats  of  our  army  in  1776  I 
3 


56  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

went  out  as  a  Volunteer  physician  to  General  Cad- 
wallider's  [sic]  corps  of  Philadelphia  militia.  During 
this  excursion  I  rode  with  Col.  J.  Reed  from  Bristol 
to  the  camp  on  the  Delaware  nearly  opposite  Trenton. 
On  our  way  he  mentioned  many  instances  of  General 
Washington's  want  of  military  skill,  and  ascribed  most 
of  the  calamities  of  the  campaign  to  it.  He  concluded 
by  saying  he  "was  only  fit  to  command  a  regiment." 
General  Gates  informed  me  in  March,  1777,  that  Pat- 
rick Henry  had  said  the  same  thing  of  him  when  he 
was  appointed  Commander-in-Chief. 

A  little  later  than  this  time  General  Mififlin  told  me 
that  "he  was  totally  unfit  for  his  situation,  that  he  was 
fit  only  to  be  the  head  clerk  of  a  London  Compting 
house,"  and  as  a  proof  of  his  assertion  mentioned  the 
time  he  wasted  with  his  pen  and  particularly  noticed 
his  having  once  transcribed  a  letter  to  Congress  of 
three  sheets  of  paper  only  because  there  was  [sic]  two 
or  three  erasures  on  the  original. 

The  brilliant  affair  at  Trenton  in  January,  1777, 
dissipated  all  the  impressions  which  these  opinions 
and  anecdotes  of  General  Washington  had  excited  in 
my  mind. 

In  April  or  May,  1777,  I  accepted  of  the  appoint- 
ment of  physician-general  of  the  military  hospitals  of 
the  United  States  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Shippen. 


IN  THE  REVOLUTION  57 

Here  I  saw  scenes  of  distress  touching  to  humanity, 
and  disgraceful  to  a  civilized  country.  I  can  never 
forget  them.  I  still  see  the  sons  of  our  yoemanry 
brought  up  in  the  lap  of  plenty  and  domestic  comforts, 
shivering  with  cold  upon  the  bare  floors  without  a 
blanket  to  cover  them,  calling  for  fire,  for  water,  for 
suitable  food,  for  medicines  and  calling  in  vain.  I 
hear  the  complaints  they  utter  against  their  country, — 
I  hear  their  sighs  for  their  fathers'  firesides, — I  hear 
their  groans, — I  see  them  expire, — while  hundreds  of 
the  flower  of  our  youth  were  dying  under  such  accu- 
mulated sufferings,  Dr.  Shippen  was  feasting  with  the 
general  officers  at  the  camp,  or  bargaining  with  tavern 
keepers  in  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania  for  the  sale  of 
Madeira  wine  from  our  hospital  stores,  bought  for  the 
use  of  the  sick.  Nor  was  this  all.  No  officer  was  ever 
sent  to  command  or  preserve  discipline  in  our  hospital 
(a  practice  universal  in  European  armies)  in  conse- 
quence of  which  our  soldiers  sold  their  blankets,  mus- 
kets, and  even  clothing  for  the  necessaries  of  life  or 
for  ardent  spirits.  In  this  situation  of  our  hospital  I 
addressed  two  letters  to  General  Washington,  the  one 
complaining  of  the  above  abuses  and  pointing  out 
their  remedies, — the  other  complaining  of  Dr.  Shippen 
for  mal-practices.  I  expected  that  a  court  would  be 
ordered  to  inquire  into  Dr.  Shippen's  conduct  in  con- 
sequence of  my  second  letter.     In  this  I  was  disap- 


58  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

pointed.  Both  my  letters  were  sent  to  Congress,  and 
a  committee  appointed  to  hear  my  complaints  against 
the  Director-General.  On  my  way  to  Yorktown  where 
the  Congress  then  sat,  I  passed  through  the  Army  at 
Valley  Forge  where  I  saw  similar  marks  of  filth,  waste 
of  public  property  and  want  of  discipline  which  I  had 
recently  witnessed  in  the  hospitals.  General  Sullivan 
(at  whose  quarters  I  breakfasted)  said  to  me,  "Sir, 
this  is  not  an  army,  it  is  a  mob."  Here  a  new  source 
of  distress  was  awakened  in  my  mind.  I  now  felt  for 
the  safety  and  independence  of  my  country  as  well  as 
for  the  sufferings  of  the  sick  under  my  care.  In  York- 
town  I  found  alarm  and  discontent  among  many  mem- 
bers of  Congress.  While  there  I  wrote  a  short  account 
of  the  state  of  our  hospitals  and  army  to  Patrick 
Henry  and  concluded  my  letter  by  quoting  a  speech  of 
General  Conway's,  unfriendly  to  the  talents  of  the 
Commander-in-Chief.  This  letter  Patrick  Henry 
transmitted  to  General  Washington  and  hence  the 
cause  and  only  cause  of  his  hostility  to  me. 

Dr.  Shippen  was  acquitted  by  the  Committee  of 
Congress  of  which  Dr.  Wetherspoon  [sic]  was  chair- 
man. The  Dr.  had  witnessed  the  sufferings  of  the  sick 
soldiers  at  Princeton,  but  he  was,  notwithstanding,  the 
friend  of  Dr.  Shippen  upon  this  occasion.  Disgusted 
with  the  issue  of  this  business,  I  resigned  my  com- 
mission, and  retired  to  private  life. 


IN  THE  REVOLUTION  59 

In  the  year  1779  Dr.  Morgan  dragged  Dr.  Shippen 
before  a  court-martial  at  Morristown  where  I  was 
summoned  as  a  witness.  During  the  trial  several 
members  of  the  court-martial  were  changed, — a  thing 
I  believe  never  done  in  such  courts,  nor  in  juries  ex- 
cept in  cases  of  sickness  or  death.  The  Doctor  was 
acquitted,  but  without  honor,  and  by  a  majority  of  a 
single  vote.  Soon  after  this  cold  and  bare  acquittal 
he  resigned.  Gen.  Washington  gave  him  a  certificate 
appFoving  of  his  conduct  while  Director-General  of 
the  hospitals,  and  saying  that  the  distresses  of  the  sick 
arose  from  a  state  of  things  inseparable  from  the  new 
and  peculiar  situation  of  our  country. 

The  change  which  took  place  in  the  army  by  the 
appointment  of  Baron  Steuben,  Inspector  General,  Mr. 
Morris,  Financier,  and  Colonel  Hamilton,  a  member  of 
General  Washington's  family,  restored  him  to  the  uni- 
versal confidence  of  his  country.  You  may  easily  con- 
ceive the  nature  of  this  change  when  I  add  that  Baron 
Steuben  said  the  cloaths  [sic],  destroyed  by  our  army, 
would  cloathe  the  largest  army  in  Europe  (previously 
to  his  appointment)  and  of  course  that  an  immense 
saving  of  money  and  health  and  lives  was  the  conse- 
quence of  the  economy  he  introduced  into  the  army 
in  that  article  alone ;  also,  that  Mr.  Morris  informed 
me  that  the  expenses  of  the  hospital  department  alone 
after  he   took   charge   of  the   finances   were   reduced 


60  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

from  five  million  to  one  million  of  dollars  in  one  year, 
estimating  the  value  of  paper  money  in  gold  and  silver 
coin  in  both  years. 

Feeling  no  unkindness  to  General  Washington  dur- 
ing the  years  of  the  war  after  1777,  and  after  its  close, 
I  joined  in  all  the  marks  of  gratitude  and  respect 
showed  to  him  from  time  to  time  by  the  citizens  of 
Philadelphia.  I  first  pointed  him  out  as  the  future 
President  of  the  United  States  in  all  our  newspapers 
while  the  Convention  was  sitting  which  formed  the 
new  Constitution,  in  the  same  publication  in  which  I 
mentioned  your  name  as  Vice-President.  These  acts 
were  the  effects  of  a  belief  that  the  councils  of  Steuben. 
Green [e]  and  Hamilton  aided  by  his  own  experience 
had  qualified  him  for  his  station.  I  rejoiced  in  cherish- 
ing this  belief,  for  I  had  no  doubt  of  his  always  acting 
honestly  and  faithfully  for  the  benefit  of  our  country. 
I  entertained  him  while  he  presided  in  the  Convention 
and  treated  him  whenever  I  met  him  with  uniform 
respect  while  he  was  President  of  the  United  States. 

From  the  statement  I  have  given  you.  I  hope  you 
are  convinced  that  the  epithet  he  applied  to  me  as  far 
[as]  it  related  to  my  conduct  to  him,  was  not  merited. 
He  cherished  in  his  family  and  honoured  with  his  con- 
fidence several  persons  who  treated  his  character  with 
a  disrespect  very  different  from  that  which  was  con- 
veyed by  my  quoting  a  speech  of  General  Conway's 


IN  THE  REVOLUTION  61 

concerning  him.-'  Your  son-in-law,  Colonel  Smith, 
informed  me  that  he  had  heard  one  of  his  Secretaries 

call  him  "a  d d  fool".     I  have  heard  an  officer  who 

often  did  business  at  headquarters,  say  "he  was  a 
greater  imposter  than  Mahomet.''  A  gentleman  of 
high  rank  who  traveled  thro'  the  United  States 
soon  after  the  conclusion  of  the  war,  informed  me 
that  he  had  heard  General  Hamilton  say  "that  he  had 
no  heart,  that  he  was  a  stone,  that  he  was  no  general 
and  that  he  had  never  read  anything  upon  the  art  of 
war  except  Sims'  Military  Guide."  I  have  heard  Major 
Edwards  say  that  he  has  heard  General  Green  [e]  (to 
whom  the  Major  was  aid-de-camp)  say  "that  the 
world  was  deceived  in  his  character — that"  but  eno', 
eno'  of  this  hateful  subject.  Help  me  to  blot  the 
knowledge  and  recollection  of  such  speeches  from  my 
memory. 

The  Venerable  Charles  Thomson,  now  81  years  of 
age,  now  and  then  visits  me.  I  once  suggested  to  him 
to  write  "secret  memoirs  of  the  Revolution".  "No, 
no,"  said  he,  "I  will  not.  I  could  not  tell  the  truth 
without  giving  great  offense.  Let  the  world  admire 
our  patriots  and  heroes.  Their  supposed  talents  and 
virtues  by  commanding  imitation  will  serve  the  cause 
of  patriotism  and  of  our  country."  I  concur  in  this 
sentiment  and  therefore  I  earnestly  request  that  you 

'^  In  the  anonymous  letter  to  Henry.    See  p.  52. 


62  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

would  destroy  this  letter  as  soon  as  you  have  read  it. 
I  do  not  even  wish  to  make  it  known  that  General 
Washington  was  deficient  in  that  mark  of  true  great- 
ness that  characterized  Caesar,  Henry  the  Eighth  and 
Frederick  the  Second,  the  ability  to  forgive. 

I  thank  God  my  destiny  in  the  world  of  spirits  to 
which  I  am  hastening  is  not  to  be  determined  by  slave- 
holders, old  tories,  Latin  and  Greek  schoolmasters. 
Judges  who  defend  capital  punishment,  Philadelphia 
physicians,  persecuting  clergymen  nor  yet  by  General 
Washington.  All  of  whom  I  have  offended  only  by 
attempting  to  lessen  the  misery  and  ignorance  of  my 
fellow  men. 

When  Calvin  heard  that  Luther  had  called  him 
"a  child  of  the  devil",  he  coolly  replied,  ''Luther  is  the 
servant  of  the  most  high  God."  In  answer  to  the  epi- 
thet which  General  Washington  has  applied  to  me, 
I  will  as  coolly  reply:  "He  was  the  highly  favoured 
instrument  whose  patriotism  and  name  contributed 
greatly  to  the  establishment  of  the  independence  of 
the  United  States. 

Copies  of  four  Letters  to  Bushrod  Washington, 
nephew  to  General  Washington. 

Philadelphia,  August  29th,  1804. 
Dear  Sir: 

I  have  this  day  learned  that  a  letter  from  me  to 


IN  THE  REVOLUTION  63 

Governor  Henry  of  Virginia  which  was  sent  by  him 
to  General  Washington  with  the  General's  answer  to 
it  are  to  be  printed  in  the  history  of  his  Hfe.  It  is 
foreign  to  my  wishes  to  hint  at  the  state  of  the  public 
mind  towards  General  Washington  towards  the  close 
of  the  year  1777,  and  which  events  subsequent  to  that 
year  altered  in  his  favor.  I  shall  mention  one  passage 
only  in  his  letter  (dated  March  27,  1778)  to  Mr.  Henry 
in  which  there  is  an  evident  mistake.  "This  man"  (al- 
luding to  me)  "has  been  elaborate,  and  studious  in  his 
professions  of  regard  for  me,  and  that  long  since  his 
letter  to  you."  The  letter  written  to  Mr.  Henry  by 
Rush  was  dated  on  the  12th  of  January,  1778.  I  re- 
signed my  charge  of  the  military  hospitals  on  the  30th 
of  the  same  month.  All  official  intercourse  ceased 
from  that  day  between  General  AVashington  and  me. 
I  retired  to  private  life  remote  from  the  army  imme- 
diately afterwards  nor  did  I  see  General  Washington 
until  fourteen  months  after  the  date  of  mv  letter  to 
Mr.  Henry,  and  then  first  at  Morristown  in  New  Jer- 
sey. 

In  the  month  of  December,  1777,  I  addressed  two 
letters  to  the  General  as  Commander  in  Chief  of  the 
Army,  dated  from  Princeton.  The  first  stating  the 
errors,  abuses  and  distresses  which  prevailed  in  the 
military  hospitals,  the  second,  containing  complaints 
of  the  administration  of  the  hospitals  by  the  Director 


64  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

General.  Both  of  these  letters  were  written  in  the 
customary  stile  of  respect  to  persons  in  high  stations, 
but  though  written  before  the  12th  of  January,  1778, 
contained  no  expressions  that  could  convey  the  ideas 
before  mentioned  in  the  General's  letter  to  Mr.  Henry. 
An  attested  copy  of  the  first  of  the  letters  shall  be  sent 
to  you  if  required — the  second  is  mislaid.  The  origi- 
nals of  both  were  sent  by  the  General  to  Congress  &  I 
suppose  are  still  on  their  files. 

The  mistake  on  the  part  of  General  Washington  in 
the  reference  to  the  time  in  which  those  letters  were 
receiyed  &  of  their  contents  is  a  natural  one,  especially 
by  a  person  daily  occupied  in  receiving  and  writing 
letters. 

After  this  statement  of  facts  I  submit  it  to  your 
judgment  whether  it  would  not  be  proper  not  to  pub- 
lish the  letters  alluded  to  or  to  erase  the  passage  ob- 
jected to  in  General  Washington's  letter  to  Gov.  Hen- 
ry as  well  as  the  inference  he  has  drawn  from  it. 

It  will  give  me  great  pleasure  to  hear  from  you 
soon  on  this  subject. 

From,  dear  sir,  with  great  respect 

Your  most  obed*t  servant 

Benj'n  Rush 


IN  THE  REVOLUTION  65 

Bushrod  Washington,  Esq. 

Philada.  Sept.  13th,  1804. 
Dear  Sir: 

I  am  much  obliged  by  your  polite  and  friendly  let- 
ter which  I  have  just  now  received.  I  answer  it  thus 
promptly,  to  request  the  favor  of  you  immediately  to 
write  to  Mr.  Wayne  to  suppress  the  letter  alluded  to, 
to  Govr  Henry,  or  at  least  the  two  paragraphs  in  it  in 
which  I  am  accused  of  having  acted  an  insincere  and 
inconsistent  part  towards  the  General.  I  mentioned 
the  reasons  formerly,  why  it  cannot  be  correct. 

To  vindicate  myself  from  the  reflections  thrown 
upon  me  by  Gen'l  Washington  would  compel  me  to 
do  great  violence  to  my  present  feelings  to  his  name 
and  character.  It  would  compel  me  further  to  men- 
tion several  private  military  anecdotes  communicated 
to  me  by  persons  of  great  respectability  who  were 
never  suspected  of  being  unfriendly  to  him.  One  of 
those  persons  Govr  Henry ;  two  others  of  them  were 
members  of  his  family  in  the  years  1776  &  1777.^^  It 
has  been  my  constant  wish  and  intention  that  those 
anecdotes  should  descend  to  the  grave  with  me.^^   Part 

'^  This  military  gossip  is  found  in  Rush's  letter  to  Adams, 
p.  54  and  ff. 

^In  order  that  this  might  be  qu'  e  convincing  Rush 
should  have  destroyed  the  memorandr  of  these  anecdotes. 
He  did  destroy  some.  See  introduction  to  the  bibliography 
in  the  present  work. 


66  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

of  the  gentlemen  who  mentioned  them,  died  in  habits 
of  respect  for  the  General.  The  survivors  venerate  his 
memory. 

In  suppressing  the  letter,  or  passages  alluded  to, 
you  will  prevent  a  great  deal  of  pain  to  a  large  family 
of  children,  some  of  whom  are  now  reading  with  great 
pleasure,  the  history  of  the  General's  life. 

By  writing  immediately  to  Mr.  Wayne  and  also  to 
Mr.  Sam  Bradford  to  whose  friendship  I  am  indebted 
for  the  knowledge  of  the  above  letter,  you  will  much 
oblige,  Dear  Sir, 

Your  sincere  friend  and  most  obedient  servant 

B.  Rush. 
Bushrod  Washington,  Esq. 

Philada  Sept.  21,  1804. 
Dear  Sir: 

You  have  indeed  misapprehended  me  in  supposing 
I  intended  publicly  to  defend  myself  against  the 
charges  contained  in  General  Washington's  letter  to 
Governor  Henry.  Far,  far  from  it.  I  had  determined 
to  submit  to  them  in  silence.  To  my  family  and  friends 
only  I  had  intended  to  justify  myself.  Now  this  would 
have  been  painful  for  in  doing  so  I  should  not  only  have 
(lone  \  iolence  to  my  present  feelings  but  to  the  habit- 
ual respect  I  have  "niformly  done  to  his  illustrious 
character.  Of  this  thtre  are  some  proofs  on  record  in 
our  public  papers  during  the  last  political  acts  of  my 


IN  THE  REVOLUTION  67 

life  in  the  years  of  the  formation  of  the  new  Constitu- 
tion and  of  the  General's  election  to  the  chair  of  the 
U.  States. 

I  neglected  to  mention  formerly  that  my  first  inter- 
view with  the  General  in  Morris  County  after  the  date 
of  my  letter  to  Mr.  Henry  took  place  in  consequence 
of  an  unexpected  card  to  dine  with  him  before  I  had 
waited  upon  him.  This  generous  act  induced  me  to 
believe  he  had  dismissed  the  remembrance  of  my  let- 
ter from  his  mind,  and  led  me  constantly  to  pay  my 
respects  to  him  every  time  he  came  to  Philada.  after- 
wards. I  was  confirmed  still  more  in  that  belief  by 
the  honor  of  an  afternoon's  visit  to  my  family  during 
the  time  he  presided  in  the  national  convention. 

Of  how  few  events,  public  men  or  even  friends  do 
we  think  alike  in  different  periods  of  our  lives ! 

For  your  kindness  in  this  business,  accept  my  sin- 
cere thanks.  To  a  man  disgusted,  as  I  have  long  been., 
with  public  pursuits  and  anxious  for  retirement,  and 
wishing  to  pass  the  small  remnant  of  my  days  unno- 
ticed by  the  world,  the  favor  will  be  remembered  with 
the  most  grateful  emotions. 

From  Dr  Sir 

Your  sincere  and  obliged  friend 

Benjn  Rush. 


68  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

Bushrod  Washington. 
Dear  Sir: 

I  beg  your  pardon  for  being  so  troublesome  to  you 
with  my  letters. 

My  son  called  at  Mr.  Wayne's  immediately  after 
my  receiving  your  last  letter,  but  did  not  see  him  till 
the  next  day.  He  told  me  the  letter  you  kindly  con- 
sented to  suppress  had  been  struck  ofif  in  its  original 
state.  Upon  being  told  by  my  son,  that  I  would  chear- 
fully  [sic]  defray  the  expenses  of  reprinting  the  sheet 
that  contained  it,  he  said  he  would  wait  till  you  came 
to  Philada  in  order  to  be  supplied  with  some  matter  to 
occupy  the  blank  made  by  the  abstraction  of  the  letter. 
As  this  may  not  be  practicable  and  as  the  journey  to 
Philada  may  be  delayed,  I  take  the  liberty  of  suggest- 
ing to  you  that  the  erasure  of  the  two  sentences  for- 
merly mentioned  that  reflect  upon  me  will  be  satis- 
factory. I  wish  it  to  be  done  so  as  not  to  leave  a  sus- 
picion of  a  chasm  in  the  letter  in  the  public  mind.  As 
the  erasures  will  not  make  more  than  10  or  12  lines, 
the  new  sheet  may  be  so  composed,  as  that  those 
erasures  will  not  be  perceived. 

I  have  only  to  request  one  more  favor  &  that  is 
that  your  instructions  to  Mr.  Wayne  be  of  a  positive 
nature. 

Did  you  know  the  distress  which  this  business  has 
given  to  me  and  to  those  branches  of  my  family  who 


IN  THE  REVOLUTION  69 

are  acquainted  with  it,  you  would  excuse  the  solici- 
tude I  have  discovered  to  leave  nothing  to  accident 
in  it. 

With  great  respect  I  am  Dr  Sir 

Your  sincere  and  obliged  friend 
Philada  Septem  24,  1804  Benj'n  Rush. 

Bushrod  Washington 

P.  S.  I  will  thank  you  to  accompany  your  letter  to 
Mr.  Wayne  by  a  letter  to  my  son  Richd  Rush,  Attor- 
ney-at-law,  Philada.  informing  him  of  your  instruc- 
tions to  Mr.  Wayne.  When  I  have  the  pleasure  of 
seeing  you  in  Philada  I  will  give  you  my  reasons  for 
this  request. 

Dr.  Rush  was  successful  in  having  the  objection- 
able passage  expunged  but  Chief  Justice  Marshall  very 
properly  insisted  that  "the  chasm"  must  be  marked 
in  the  regular  way  by  asterisks. 

^  5^  *  *  HS 

Dr.  Rush,  as  we  have  seen,  resigned  from  the  army 
in  1778  and  retired  to  Philadelphia  where  he  took  up 
his  practice  and  his  medical  instruction.  The  re- 
mainder of  the  story  of  his  political  activities  may  be 
told  in  a  few  words. 

When  the  Federal  Constitution  was  submitted  for 
ratification  to  the  several  states,  the  contest  in  Penn- 


70  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

sylvania  was  bitter,  although  the  outcome  was  per- 
haps never  much  in  doubt.  The  instability  of  politics  in 
the  State  seems  to  have  made  for  acrimony.  The  state 
of  public  feeling  may  be  partly  understood  from  an  in- 
cident in  the  General  Assembly  which  was  to  issue  the 
call  for  the  election  of  delegates  to  the  ratifying  Con- 
vention. Nineteen  members  of  the  Assembly  deliber- 
ately absented  themselves.  After  several  adjourn- 
ments and  after  they  refused  to  honor  the  requests  of 
the  House  expressed  through  its  Sergeant-at-arms, 
some  "unknown  citizens"  forcibly  brought  back  one 
of  the  absconding  members  and  so  restored  a  quorum. 
Then  the  motions  for  a  Convention  were  adopted. 

Dr.  Rush,  being  elected  a  delegate,  strongly  fa- 
vored the  new  Constitution  and  labored  for  its  rati- 
fication both  in  the  Convention  and  out  of  doors.  The 
leader  of  the  Convention  was  James  Wilson.  But 
there  were  a  number  of  others  who  had  then,  or  who 
later  attained  a  national  reputation.  Among  these 
were  Anthony  Wayne,  Thomas  McKean  and  Timothy 
Pickering. 

The  proceedings  in  the  Convention  were  not  fully 
reported  and  we  have  no  complete  speech  by  Dr.  Rush. 
But  we  know  that  he  spoke  at  length,  at  least,  four 
or  five  times  and  probably  oftener.  He  argued  in  "his 
elegant  and  pathetic  style"  that  the  new  Constitution 
would   put   an   end   to   the   calamities   of  the   United 


IN  THE  REVOLUTION  71 

States,  particularly  those  financial  and  economic  dis- 
tresses caused  by  the  frequent  issues  of  paper  money. 
Ke  did  not  see  any  need  for  a  Bill  of  Rights  because 
he  based  his  faith  in  the  new  government  on  the  equal- 
ity of  representation  and  on  the  system  of  checks  as 
embodied  in  the  Constitution.  On  the  last  day  of  the 
Convention  and  just  before  the  question  was  put  he 
made  a  long  metaphysical  argument  on  the  "divine 
right"  of  the  officers  under  this  instrument  formed  by 
the  people  for  their  self-government.  He  finished  with 
an  impassioned  plea  for  an  unanimous  adoption.  The 
vote  was  forty-six  in  favor  and  twenty-three  against 
ratification.  He  also  contributed  to  the  newspaper 
discussions  of  the  day.  Here  he  was  charged  with 
using  his  earlier  device  of  changing  his  nom-de-plume 
with  each  article,  ''thus  giving  an  appearance  of  num- 
bers."^°  Very  few  of  these  articles  can  be  traced.  But 
the  writer  who  signed  himself  "Centinel"  (probably 
George  Bryan,  as  Dr.  Rush  believed)   frequently  ad- 

^^  Centinel  was  a  past  master  of  the  craft  among  the 
epithet-flinging  pamphleteers  of  that  day.  He  wrote  that 
"Doctor  Puff,  the  paragraphist  [as  he  calle;d  Dr.  Rush],  has 
scarcely  slept  since  his  appointment,  having  received  orders 
to  work  double  tides;  beneath  his  creative  pen  thousands  of 
correspondents  rise  into  view,  who  all  harmonize  in  their 
sentiments  and  information  about  the  new  constitution." 
Elsewhere  he  speaks  of  "Galen  and  such  minions".  James 
Wilson  he  calls  "James  the  Caledonian  who  can  to  appear- 
ance destroy   all   distinction   between  liberty   and   despotism 


72  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

dressed  himself  to  "Galen",  thus  showing  Dr.  Rush's 
activity. 

The  Pennsylvania  Constitution  of  1776  provided  for 
a  uni-cameral  legislative  body  and  had  other  defects 
that  Dr.  Rush  tried  to  have  removed.^'  In  this  he  was 
not  successful  until  the  winter  of  1789-90  when  a  new 
Constitution  was  adopted.  With  this  event  his  polit- 
ical activities  and  direct  political  interests  ceased.  He 
entered  in  his  diary: 

"Sept.  15,  1789.  This  day  a  recommendation  passed 
the  Assembly  to  call  a  Convention  to  alter  the  Consti- 
tution of  Pennsylvania.  The  motion  for  this  measure 
originated  last  spring  in  my  house  on  an  evening  which 
James  Wilson,  Gerardus  Wynkoop,  Thomas  Fitz- 
simmons  and  William  Maclay  spent  with  me." 

Thus,  as  he  was  fond  of  saying,  his  parlor  was  the 
"Bingham's  Porch"  of  the  new  Constitution.^^  Dr. 
Rush  henceforth  turned  his  attention  strictly  and  al- 
most exclusively  toward  his  profession. 

.  .  .  who  so  suitable  or  deserving  of  the  office  of  Chief 
Justice  of  the  United  States.  .  .  .  Here  he  would  be  both 
judge  and  jury",  and  so  forth.  Robert  Morris  is  "Robert  the 
Cofferer".  The  ''Centinel"  letters  have  been  collected  by 
McMaster  and  Stone:  "Pennsylvania  and  the  Federal  Consti- 
tution." The  Pa.  Hist.  Soc.  has  files  of  the  Independent 
Gazeteer  in  which  they  originally  appeared. 

"  See  bibliography. 

"■'See  Note  1,  Chap.  IV. 


CHAPTER  III. 

RUSH  AS  A  PROFESSOR  AND  PRACTI- 
TIONER OF  MEDICINE 

We  have  already  seen  under  what  circumstances 
Dr.  Rush  became  Professor  of  Chemistry  in  the  Med- 
ical Department  of  the  College  of  Philadelphia,  in 
1769.^  That  institution  was  closed  through  ''war's 
alarms"  on  June  30,  1777,  but  the  medical  lectures  had 
been  discontinued  as  early  as  1773  or  1774.  This  was 
due  to  the  unsettled  state  of  the  times  and  perhaps 
also  to  the  employment  by  the  army,  in  various  pro- 
fessional capacities,  of  several  of  the  leading  profess- 
ors. Meetings  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Col- 
lege became  infrequent  towards  the  close  of  1776  and 
were  omitted  altogether  from  June  25,  1777,  to  Sep- 
tember 25,  1778.  During  most  of  this  period  the  city 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  British.  But  the  College  build- 
ings had  been  used  as  barracks  as  early  as  midsummer, 
1776,  and  a  formal  protest  by  the  Faculty  to  the  Coun- 
cil of  Safety  in  January,  1777,  went  unheeded. 

'  See  p.  24  and  ff. 


74  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

The  British  army  evacuated  Philadelphia  in  June, 
1778,  and  at  the  close  of  the  year  Provost  Smith  re- 
turned to  the  city  after  an  absence  of  a  year  and  a  half. 
The  schools  were  again  organized  and  were  reopened 
in  January,  1779.  There  were  at  this  time  about  sixty 
medical  students.  Dr.  Rush,  who  had  resigned  his 
position  in  the  army  about  a  year  before,  resumed  his 
lectures. 

The  party  now  in  power  (1779)  in  Pennsylvania 
made  an  attack  on  the  charter  of  the  College.  They 
argued  that  the  Trustees  had  failed  to  reconstruct  the 
institution  in  accordance  with  the  republican  princi- 
ples underlying  the  new  government,  that  the  institu- 
tion had  become  sectarian,  that  the  funds  were  inade- 
quate, and  that  the  Trustees  had  failed  to  take  the  Test 
Oath  or  had  even  joined  the  enemy,  as  was,  indeed,  the 
case  with  some.  Dr.  Smith  had  foreseen  the  gathering 
storm  and  had  even  secured  the  insertion  in  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  State  in  1776  of  a  clause  guaranteeing 
the  inviolability  of  chartered  rights.  But  as  Bishop 
White  pointed  out^  "the  event  showed  of  what  little 
effect  are  provisions  put  on  paper  when  they  interfere 
with  the  views  of  a  dominant  party  in  politics."    The 

^  For  the  passage  here  quoted  from  Bishop  White  and  for 
an  account  of  the  loss  of  the  Charter  see  G.  B.  Wood,  M.  D., 
Early  History  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  3rd  edi- 
tion, 1896;    Chap.  VI. 


PROFESSOR   AND    PRACTITIONER  75 

aged  Provost  and  the  Trustees  could  not  stem  the  tide. 
The  opposition — whose  animus  was  political  without 
a  doubt — carried  the  day  and  the  Assembly  dissolved 
the  Board  of  Trustees  and  the  Faculty  on  November 
27 ,  1779.  On  the  ruins  they  erected  the  new  Univer- 
sity of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania. 

The  Committee  of  the  new  Board  of  Trustees  to 
which  was  assigned  the  task  of  reorganizing  the  Fac- 
ulty found  itself  beset  with  difficulties.  All  the  med- 
ical professors,  except  Dr.  Shippen,  declined  re-elec- 
tion. Several  other  men  to  whom  chairs  were  offered 
refused  to  serve.  Dr.  Rush,  it  seems,  couched  his  re- 
fusal in  terms  that  offended  some  members  of  the 
Board  and  when  he  later  applied  for  re-instatement, 
the  application  was  almost  unanimously  rejected.^  He 
was  now  out  of  a  professorship,  de  facto,  at  least,  until 
the  repeal  of  the  law  of  1779  on  March  6,  1789.   Those 

^  This  is  the  account  of  Dr.  Rush's  loss  of  the  professor- 
ship by  an  enemy,  George  Bryan,  in  a  letter  of  Dec.  9,  1782. 
Copy  in  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  93.  Bryan  says,  "He  [Rush] 
was  a  professor  in  the  College  and  might  have  been  so  in  the 
University.  He  was  elected  by  the  Trustees  by  as  good  a 
majority  as  Dr.  Ewing  but  he  insulted  the  Trustees  in  his 
manner  of  declining.  When  his  friends  afterward  proposed 
him  he  had  but  one  vote.  The  station  is  now  full  but  the  per- 
son has  not  yet  absolutely  accepted."  Ruschenberger  says  (p. 
8  ff),  'Tn  the  autumn  of  1783,  however,  those  who  had 
beien  professors  in  the  College  of  Philadelphia  accepted  ap- 
pointments from  the  University  of  the  State  of  Pennsyl- 
vania." 


76  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

who  say  he  was  connected  with  the  Medical  School 
from  1769  until  his  death,  a  period  of  forty-four  years, 
can  only  mean  that  he  held  such  a  connection  de  jure.* 
He  did  not  actually  lecture  during  the  Revolutionary 
period  except  for  a  few  months  in  the  spring  of  1779. 

The  College  of  Philadelphia  was  re-instated  into 
its  possessions — charter  rights,  buildings  and  funds — 
on  March  6,  1789,  as  just  noted.''  On  March  9,  three 
days  later,  the  surviving  members  of  the  old  Board 
who  were  in  Philadelphia,  met  at  the  house  of  Dr. 
Franklin  and  continued  to  meet  there  until  his  failing 
health  rendered  him  incapable  of  attending  to  public 
business.  Of  the  Medical  School,  Drs.  Shippen,  Kuhn 
and  Rush  were  living  and  accepted  their  old  positions. 
Dr.  Morgan  also  was  alive  but  was  not  in  Pennsyl- 
vania and  died  later  in  that  year.  Dr.  Rush  was  short- 
ly appointed  to  the  position  that  had  thus  become  va- 
cant, the  Professorship  of  the  Theory  and  Practice  of 
Medicine,  the  earliest  medical  chair  in  America.^ 

In  1791  the  College  of  Philadelphia  and  the  Uni- 

*  Ramsay  makes  the  statement  that  "Dr.  Rush  has  been 
a  pubHc  teacher  of  medicine  for. forty-four  years".  An  Eulo- 
gium,  etc.,  p.  19. 

'  See  Pennsylvania  Packet  for  Mar.  7,  1789. 

°  In  his  Memoirs,  Dr.  Rush  has  given  an  interesting  pic- 
ture of  the  strain  and  labor  involved  in  preparing  at  short  no- 
tice, an  entirely  new  course  of  lectures.  See  p.  62  ff.  The 
appointments  to  the  four  medical  positions  are  announced  in 
the  Independent  Gazeteier,  Nov.  14,  1789. 


PROFESSOR  AND   PRACTITIONER  7^ 

versity  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  were  united  to 
form  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  Dr.  Rush's  po- 
sition was  then  changed  to  that  of  Professor  of  the 
Institutes  of  Medicine  and  of  Clinical  Practice.  On 
the  resignation  of  Dr.  Adam  Kuhn  from  the  faculty  in 
1796  he  received  the  additional  appointment  to  the  Pro- 
fessorship of  the  Practice  of  Physic.  This  threefold 
professorship  Dr.  Rush  held  to  the  end  of  his  life.'^ 

Pages  could  be  filled — in  fact,  pages  have  been 
filled — with  discussion  and  panegyric  of  his  success  as 
a  lecturer  on  medicine.  He  had  a  brilliant  career  as  a 
teacher.  His  students,  however,  are  apt  to  use  too 
many  superlatives  for  a  discriminating  portrayal.  But 
he  had  read  widely,  was  possessed  of  a  good,  though 
not  remarkable,  memory,  and  early  in  life  formed  and 
always  retained  the  note-book  habit.  He  was,  there- 
fore, duly  acquainted  with  his  subject.  He  had  a  vivid 
imagination  and  a  warm  personality.  His  candor  in- 
vited the  confidence  of  his  classes.  His  lectures  were 
always  written  out  in  full  and  read  verbatim  from  the 
manuscript.  He  was  nearly  always  seated  during 
their  delivery  but  occasionally  arose  and  removed  his 
spectacles  when  he  wished  to  emphasize  a  point. ^ 

^  In  1791  Dr.  Rush's  Professorship  was  divided  into  1.  In- 
stitutes and  2.  Practice  of  Medicine.  Dr.  Kuhn  followed  Dr. 
Rush  as  Professor  of  Practice.  This  work' was  given  back 
on  the  resignation  of  Dr.  Kuhn  in  1796. 

"^  This    account    of    Dr.    Rush's    manner    as    a    University 


78  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

The  size  of  his  classes  increased  from  about  twen- 
ty at  the  beginning  of  his  career  to  four  hundred  and 
twelve  in  the  year  of  its  close.  Most  of  his  classes 
were  small  before  1789,  but  they  increased  rapidly 
thereafter,  and  it  has  been  estimated  that  he  instruct- 
ed considerably  over  two  thousand  students  of  medi  ■ 
cine.  His  long  service  permitted  him  in  a  number  of 
cases  to  instruct  two  generations,  father  and  son.  The 
orator,  appointed  by  the  South  Carolina  Medical  So- 
ciety to  pronounce  an  eulogium  in  his  honor,  asserted 
that  he  was  the  preceptor  of  more  than  one-half  of  the 
members  of  that  association.  Throughout  his  career 
he  also  had  many  private  pupils.  At  the  outbreak  of 
the  yellow  fever  of  1793  he  had  five  of  these.  One  of 
them  was  the  grandson  of  his  own  preceptor  and  be- 
came Dr.  John  Redman  Coxe,  Professor  of  Materia 
Medica  at  the  University.  Another  of  his  private  pu- 
pils was  James  McHenry  who  studied  with  him  before 
the  war,  joined  the  army  in  1775  as  volunteer  surgeon, 
and  finally  became  Secretary  of  War  under  Washing- 
ton and  Adams. ^ 

Of  Rush's  practice  a  great  deal  could  be  said  and 
it  might  be  wished  that  a  competent  physician  would 

teacher  is  made  up  of  the  accounts  of  "old  grads"  wiho  evi- 
dently idealized  the  pictures  in  "memory's  h^.lls".  See  esp. 
Ramsay  and  Mitchell  (full  titles  in  bibliography). 

'  Bernard   Christian   Ste-iner,   The    Life   and    Correspond- 
ence of  James  McHenry.     Cleveland.  1907. 


PROFESSOR  AND    PRACTITIONER  79 

render  a  satisfactory  treatment  of  the  subject.  But 
even  a  layman,  in  treating  his  Hfe  and  character,  cannot 
omit  all  note  of  his  eminent  services  in  the  yellow 
fever  epidemic  of  1793.  That  visitation  was  not  the 
tirst  to  desolate  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  In  the  Jour- 
nal of  Thomas  Story,  a  preacher  in  the  Society  of 
Friends,  we  have  an  account  of  the  same  disease  in 
1699,  the  year  of  Penn's  second  visit.  The  infant  col- 
ony was  then  small,  containing  between  three  and  four 
thousand  people,  and  yet  six,  seven  and  sometimes 
eight  persons  died  of  this  fever  in  a  day  during  a  pe- 
riod of  several  weeks,  and  the  pestilence  was  not 
checked  until  the  advent  of  cold  weather  in  late  Octo- 
ber or  November.^^  The  same  cause  put  an  end  to  the 
epidemic  of  1741,  which  raged  from  June  to  Septem- 
ber.^^ But  since  1762,  when  Rush,  then  in  the  employ 
of  Dr.  Redman,  had  aided  in  combatting  the  plague, 
the  city  had  been  comparatively  free  from  the  disease. 
Of  this  epidemic  we  have  two  accounts — one  by  Dr. 
Rush  and  the  other  by  his  teacher,  Dr.  Redman.  The 
latter  presented  his  account  to  the  College  of  Physi- 
cians on  the  re-appearance  of  the  disease  in  1793. 

The  greatest  of  these  scourges,  however,  was  that 
of  the  year  just  mentioned,  1793.   In  that  year  the  dis- 

"  Rush,  An  Account  of  the  Bilious  Yellow  Fever,  p.  125 
and  p,  134. 

"Ibid.,  pp.  134  and  135. 


80  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

ease  was  first  noticed  about  the  seventh  of  August, 
reached  its  height  about  the  middle  of  October,  when 
on  each  of  three  successive  days  it  carried  ofif  over  a 
hundred  victims,  and  then  gradually  decreased  in  viru- 
lence until  it  practically  ceased  about  the  middle  of 
November.  In  that  time  over  four  thousand  people^- 
— one-tenth  of  the  entire  population  of  the  city — were 
swept  away.  And  it  should  be  recalled  that  on  the 
outbreak  of  the  disease  thousands  of  people  fled  from 
the  city  to  avoid  its  ravages.  Hence  the  proportion  of 
those  who  died  to  the  population  that  was  actually  in 
the  city  during  that  period,  was  much  greater  than 
that  just  stated.  The  dreadful  contagion  spared  no 
rank  or  age  or  sex.  Whole  families  were  sometimes 
sick  at  once.  And  with  so  many  actually  down  with 
the  disease  and  so  many  more  afraid  to  come  in  con- 
tact with  it,  it  was  almost  impossible  to  secure  compe- 
tent nurses  or  even  aid  of  any  kind.  ''There  w^as,  like- 
wise, a  great  deficiency  of  physicians  from  the  deser- 
tion of  some,  and  the  sickness  and  death  of  others. "^^ 
It  was  estimated  that  at  one  time  there  were  six  thou- 
sand persons  ill  with  the  fever ;  and  at  that  same  pe- 
riod there  were  for  a  time  in  the  whole  city  only  three 
physicians  able  to  call  on  patients.  Nothing  could  be 
more  graphic  than  Dr.  Rush's  description  of  the  dis- 

"  Rush,  An  Account,  etc.,  p.  130. 
"  Rush,  An  Account,  etc..  p.  123. 


PROFESSOR  AND   PRACTITIONER  81 

tress  of  the  stricken  city.^*  "During  the  first  three  or 
four  weeks  of  the  prevalence  of  the  disorder,  I  seldom 
went  into  a  house  the  first  time,"  he  says,  "without 
meeting  the  parents  or  children  of  the  sick  in  tears. 
Many  wept  aloud  in  my  entry  or  parlour,  who  came 
to  ask  for  advice  for  their  relations.  Grief  after  a  while 
descended  below  weeping,  and  I  was  much  struck  in 
observing  that  many  .persons  submitted  to  the  loss  of 
relations  and  friends  without  shedding  a  tear,  or  mani- 
festing any  other  of  the  common  signs  of  grief." 

"A  cheerful  countenance  was  scarcely  to  be  seen 
in  the  city  for  six  weeks."  .... 

"The  streets  everywhere  discovered  marks  of  the 
distress  that  pervaded  the  city.  More  than  one  half 
the  houses  were  shut  up,  although  not  more  than  one 
third  of  the  inhabitants  had  fled  into  the  country.  In 
walking  for  many  hundred  yards,  few  persons  were 
met,  except  such  as  were  in  quest  of  a  physician,  a 
nurse,  a  bleeder,  or  the  men  who  buried  the  dead.  The 
hearse  alone  kept  up  the  remembrance  of  the  noise  of 
carriages  or  carts  in  the  streets.  Funeral  processions 
were  laid  aside.  A  black  man,  leading,  or  driving  a 
horse,  with  a  corpse  on  a  pair  of  chair  wheels,  with 
now  and  then  half  a  dozen  relations  or  friends  follow- 

'"Rush,  An  Account,  etc.    The  long  quotation  here  given 
is  found  p.  123  and  following. 


82  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

ing  at  a  distance  from  it,  met  the  eye  in  most  of  the 
streets  of  the  city  at  every  hour  of  the  day,  while  the 
noise  of  the  same  wheels  passing  slowly  over  the  pave- 
ments, kept  alive  anguish  and  fear  in  the  sick  and 
well,  every  hour  of  the  night." 

When  the  fever  made  its  appearance  in  the  city  in 
August,  Dr.  Rush's  family  consisted  of  his  mother,  a 
sister  who  was  on  a  visit,  a  negro  servant  man  and  a 
mulatto  boy.  He  had  at  the  same  time  five  private 
pupils,  (as  we  have  already  seen)  who,  however,  did 
not  live  in  the  same  house  with  him.  As  the  fever  in- 
creased the  calls  for  professional  aid  became  very  nu- 
merous and  very  insistent.  For  a  time  the  Doctor  and 
his  students  tried  to  answer  every  call.  In  the  week 
from  the  eighth  to  the  fifteenth  of  September  the  group 
visited  and  prescribed  for  considerably  more  than  one 
thousand  patients.  Dr.  Rush  visited  and  treated  from 
a  hundred  to  a  hundred  and  twenty  a  day.  Forgetting 
his  own  great  risk,  driving  his  horse  at  break-neck 
speed,  and  with  his  faithful  black  servant  to  expedite 
his  visits,  he  tried  to  minister  to  a  whole  city.  In  the 
intervals  of  his  visits  his  house  was  crowded  with  sick 
people  and  with  messengers  from  his  patients.  In  this 
way  he  frequently  prescribed  in  one  day  for  from  fifty 
to  a  hundred  and  fifty  or  more,  chiefly  the  poor.  Even 
his  dining  room  was  turned  into  a  consultation  room. 
"For  many  weeks,"  he  says,  "I   seldom  ate  without 


PROFESSOR  AND   PRACTITIONER  83 

prescribing  for  numbers  as  I  sat  at  my  table. "^^  Soon 
the  calls  became  so  frequent  that  it  was  physically 
impossible  to  answer  all  of  them,  even  with  the  help 
of  his  pupils,  three  of  whom  now  lodged  with  him  to 
be  more  accessible.  "Having  found  myself  unable  to 
comply  with  the  numerous  applications  that  were 
made  to  me,  I  was  obliged  to  refuse  many  every  day. 
My  sister  counted  forty-seven  in  one  forenoon  before 
eleven  o'clock.  Many  of  them  left  my  door  with  tears, 
but  they  did  not  feel  more  distress  than  I  did,  from 

refusing  to  follow  them I  recollect,  and  even  yet, 

I  recollect,  with  pain,  that  I  tore  myself  at  one  time 
from  five  persons  in  Moravian-alley  who  attempted  to 
stop  me,  by  suddenly  whipping  my  horse,  and  driving 
my  chair  as  speedily  as  possible  beyond  the  reach  of 
their  cries. "^^ 

"The  solicitude  of  the  friends  of  the  sick  for  help 
may  be  further  conceived  of,  when  I  add  that  the  most 
extravagant  compensations  were  sometimes  offered  for 
medical  services,  and  in  one  instance  for  only  a  single 
visit.  I  had  no  merit  in  refusing  these  offers,  and  I 
have  introduced  an  account  of  them,  only  to  inform 
such  physicians  as  may  hereafter  be  thrown  into  a 
similar  situation,  that  I  was  favored  with  an  exemp- 
tion from  the  fear  of  death  in  proportion  as  I  subdued 

"  Rush,  An  Account  of  the  Yellow  Fever,  p.  340. 
''  Ibid.,  p.  346  and  ff. 


84  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

every  selfish  feeling,  and  laboured  exclusively  for  the 
benefit  of  others." 

In  the  midst  of  these  extraordinary  exertions,  per- 
sonal affliction  laid  its  hand  heavily  on  him  and  his 
family.  During  the  month  of  September  three  of  his 
pupils  died  of  the  fever.  The  other  two  took  the  dis- 
ease, but  recovered.  His  mother  was  sick  in  the  latter 
part  of  that  month.  On  the  first  day  of  October  hi? 
sister  died.  The  black  man-servant  also  took  the  dis- 
ease about  the  same  time.  Only  the  little  mulatto  boy 
remained  able  to  give  the  least  aid,  when  Dr.  Rush 
himself  took  the  disease  in  a  violent  form  on  the  ninth 
of  October.  He  had  had  several  milder  attacks,  but 
this  time  his  vitality  having  been  much  lowered  by  the 
long  period  of  hard  labor  and  strain,  his  system  offered 
but  little  resistance  to  the  disease.  He  recovered,  but 
had  an  extremely  slow  convalescence. 

His  wife  and  children  escaped  the  disease.  They 
had  for  many  years  been  accustomed  to  spend  their 
summer  in  New  Jersey  in  and  about  Mrs.  Rush's  child- 
hood home  at  Princeton.  They  had  gone  there  before 
the  fever  broke  out.  Although  Mrs.  Rush  wanted  to 
come  to  his  side  when  he  took  the  fever,  she  was  per- 
suaded to  remain  away  by  his  urgent  request  and  by 
his  representation  that,  if  he  should  die,  her  own  pres- 
ervation would  be  proportionately  more  important  to 
their  children. 


PROFESSOR  AND    PRACTITIONER  85 

Of  the  treatment  Dr.  Rush  used  to  cope  with  the 
fever,  little  need  be  said  to  the  non-professional  reader. 
And  the  physician  already  knows  that  the  less  said, 
the  better.  He  used  a  combination  of  bleeding  with 
doses  of  calomel  and  jalap,  the  famous  "ten  and  ten". 
The  only  wonder  is  at  the  "power  of  resistance  fre- 
quently exhibited  by  the  human  constitution."  The 
theory  of  disease  then  held  seems  very  incongruous 
now  even  to  a  layman ;  but  he  cannot  help  asking 
what  changes  in  medical  theory  the  next  hundred 
years  will  bring  forth  and  whether  the  gap  between 
the  practices  of  the  eighteenth  and  of  the  nineteenth 
centuries  will  seem  as  great  at  the  end  of  the  twentieth 
as  they  do  now.  At  any  rate  we  can  all  admire  the 
courage  and  the  devotion  to  the  honest  search  for 
truth  exhibited  by  the  "Father  of  Experimental  Medi- 
cine." We  need  to  introduce  no  qualification  in  speak- 
ing of  Benjamin  Rush  as  a  great  physician,  no  matter 
what  his  errors  of  practice  may  have  been. 

Dr.  Rush's  courage  and  his  humanity  have  been 
highly  admired  throughout  the  civilized  world.  "When 
an  infectious  pestilence,  raging  in  Philadelphia,  rapid- 
ly swept  nearly  four  thousand  to  the  grave.  Rush  de- 
spised every  consideration  of  personal  safety,  and  was 
so  true  day  and  night  to  his  patients  that  it  was  said 
of  him  in  Europe,  *Not  Philadelphia  alone,  but  man- 


86  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

kind,  should  raise  him  a  statue.'  "^^  His  "Account  of 
the  Bilious  Yellow  Fever  of  1793,"  has  been  said  to  be 
the  best  history  of  an  epidemic  that  has  ever  been  writ- 
ten,^^  and  was  translated  into  three  languages.  As  a 
mark  of  respect  for  his  medical  character  and  writings, 
especially  his  record  of  the  yellow  fever,  both  the  King 
of  Prussia  and  the  Queen  of  Etruria  presented  him 
with  medals,  the  latter  of  gold ;  and  the  Czar  of  Russia 
sent  him  a  costly  diamond.  Two  medals,  dated  1808, 
were  also  struck  in  his  honor  at  the  U.  S.  Mint  in 
Philadelphia. 

Thinking  that  he  had  discovered  a  cure  for  the 
dreaded  fever,  which  had  so  often  scourged  not  Phila- 
delphia alone,  but  many  other  cities  and  districts  all 
over  the  world,  Dr.  Rush,  true  to  his  nature  and  his 
convictions,  presently  took  up  the  cudgels  for  his  meth- 
od of  treatment.  The  physicians  of  the  city  were  at 
once  divided  into  two  hostile  camps  on  the  merits  of 
the  remedies.  Dr.  Rush,  basing  his  theory  of  the  dis- 
ease and  its  cure  on  the  work  of  Dr.  Sydenham,  aided 
by  a  great  and  well  earned  reputation  as  a  teacher  and 
a  successful  practitioner,  and  by  his  splendid  powers  of 
argumentation,  soon  collected  a  group  of  physicians 
who  supported  his  contentions.     Drs.  Kuhn  and  Ste- 

"  George   Bancroft,  Joseph   Reed:   An   Historical   Essay. 
New  York— W.  J.  Middleton— 1867.  p.  32. 
'"  By  Dr.  Trotter. 


PROFESSOR  AND   PRACTITIONER  87 

vens  opposed  them.  The  matter  was  taken  into  the 
public  press,  without  being  much  clarified  thereby. 
We  know,  of  course,  that  Rush  was  wrong,  but  in  that 
day  the  matter  was  not  decided,  and  Rush  to  the  day 
of  his  death,  believed  in  the  efficacy  of  his  remedies. 
Another  feature  of  the  general  dispute  that  had  broken 
out  among  the  physicians  of  the  city,  referred  to  the 
question  of  the  origin  of  the  fever.  At  first  Doctor 
Rush,  in  common  with  most  physicians,  thought  the 
disease  had  been  imported.  He,  however,  early  dis- 
covered some  evidence  that  made  him  change  his 
mind,  and  that  convinced  him  that  the  fever  was  of  do- 
mestic origin.  Faithful  to  his  duty  as  a  conserver  of 
the  public  health,  he  at  once  announced  publicly  his 
change  of  view  with  the  facts  and  reasons  that  had  led 
him  to  it.  Here  he  antagonized  not  only  his  profes- 
sional brethren,  but  also  the  property  holders  of  the 
city,  for  real  estate  values  would  be  depressed,  if  this 
view  should  gain  currency.  But  he  refused  to  recant, 
holding  that  even  commerce  would  in  the  end  be  bene- 
fited by  the  knowledge  of  the  truth.  We  know,  of 
course,  that  he  was  right,  but  in  this  instance,  as  in 
the  other,  final  answer,  accepted  by  all,  was  not  at 
once  attainable.  The  College  of  Physicians  solemnly 
declared  that  **No  instance  has  ever  occurred  of  the 
disease  called  yellow  fever,  having  been  generated  in 
this  cit}^  or  in  any  other  parts  of  the  United  States,  as 
4 


88  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

far  as  we  know ;  but  there  have  been  frequent  instan- 
ces of  its  having  been  imported."  ....  This  report  was 
made  Nov.  26,  1793.  Three  members  of  the  College 
dissented,  among  whom  was  Dr.  Redman,  their  Presi- 
dent. Owing  to  these  disputes  with  his  fellows  in  the 
College,  Rush  had  resigned  on  November  5,  but  had 
sent  w'th  his  resignation  as  a  gift  to  the  College,  Wal- 
■'s'  edition  of  the  works  of  Sydenham.  This  was  one 
of  those  little  ironies  that  Rush  thoroughly  enjoyed, 
for  Sydenham  was,  in  Rush's  opinion,  the  author  that 
the  other  members  of  the  College  most  needed  to 
study.^® 

In  1797  there  was  a  recurrence  of  the  fever.     As 

^*  The  College  of  Physicians  was  founded  in  1787  with  Dr. 
John  Redman  as  President.  Dr.  Rush  was  one  of  the 
charter  members.  For  the  history  of  the  College  of  Phy- 
sicians the  reader  can  consult  W.  S.  W.  Ruschenberger,  M.D., 
History  of  the  College  of  Physicians,  a  valuable  and  extreme- 
ly interesting  work.  After  Dr.  Rush  resigned  from  the  Col- 
le;ge  he  aided  in  establishing  a  rival  institution,  The  American 
Academy  of  Medicine.  It  was  short-lived  and  its  influence 
negligible. 

This  is  as  good  a  place  as  any  to  mention  the  most  im- 
portant of  the  many  societies  with  which  Dr.  Rush  was 
affiliated.  The  best  known  of  these"  was  the  American  Phil- 
osophical Society  to  which  he  was  elected  in  1769.  He  was 
for  a  number  of  years  Curator  and  also  Vice-President.  In 
1774  he  in  conjunction  with  James  Pemberton,  a  Quaker,  and 
some  others,  founded  the  first  anti-slavery  society  in  Amer- 
ica. In  1787  this  society  was  enlarged  with  Franklin  as  Pres- 
ident and  Rush  one  of  the  Secretaries.     He  was  also  active 


PROFESSOR  AND   PRACTITIONER  89 

soon  as  it  became  known,  about  the  middle  of  August, 
that  the  fever  was  again  in  the  city,  there  was  a  gen- 
eral exodus  to  the  country.  President  Adams  went  to 
his  home  in  Braintree,  Mass.,  and  the  executive  offices 
were  removed  to  various  places,  Trenton,  Gray's 
Ferry,  Falls  of  the  Schuylkill,  Even  the  leading  mer- 
chants closed  their  stores.  Sixteen  Philadelphia  firms 
opened  in  business  at  Wilmington,  Delaware,  for  the 
summer.  The  epidemic  ceased  about  November  first 
after  reaping  a  harvest  of  almost  thirteen  hundred 
lives.2° 

When  the  fever  again  broke  out,  Dr.  Rush,  as  we 
should  expect,  at  once  began  a  crusade  in  favor  of 
bleeding  and  the  use  of  calomel  and  jalap.  He  could 
not  help  urging  the  adoption  of  his  treatment  by  every 
means  at  hand,  both  public  and  private.  Convinced  of 
its  efficacy,  he  would  have  considered  himself  a  traitor 
to  the  cause  of  humanity,  had  he  refrained.  Some  of 
his  brother  physicians  aided  in  the  crusade.  Dr.  Grif- 
fits,  in  particular,  wrote  a  paper  in  approval  of  Rush's 

in  the  Society  for  Promoting  Political  Enquiries,  the  Penn- 
sylvania Society  for  the  Encouragement  of  Manufactures  and 
the  Useful  Arts,  the  American  Society  for  Promoting  Use- 
ful Knowledge,  the  American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences, 
and  in  1811  he  was  elected  an  Honorary  Member  of  the 
Royal  Humane  Society  of  London.  After  1791  he  was  a 
member  of  the  Library  Company  of  Philadelphia. 
=^Scharf  and  Westcott.    Vol.  I,  pp.  490,  491. 


90  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

method  of  treatment  which  was  ascribed  to  Dr.  Rush 
himself.  Rush  complains  that  he  was  nearly  over- 
whelmed by  the  "torrents  of  abuse"  which  met  this 
publication.^^  Since  1793  also,  a  new  political  voice 
had  gained  the  ear  of  the  Philadelphia  public,  or  at 
least  of  the  Federalist  section  of  it.  This  was  William 
Cobbett,  an  Englishman,  who  had  espoused  the  "Eng- 
lish party",  as  he  called  it  (that  is.  Federalism),  and 
who  wrote  English  that  was,  to  say  the  least,  vigorous. 
He  had  landed  in  Philadelphia  in  October,  1792.  He 
had  made  his  livelihood  for  a  while  as  a  tutor ;  but  had 
now  adopted  the  name  of  Peter  Porcupine ;  and  in 
Peter  Porcupine's  Gazette,  a  newspaper,  established  in 
March,  1797,  he  proceeded  to  teach  everybody,  every- 
thing. This,  William  Cobbett,  being  a  self-made  man, 
was  well  qualified  to  do.  Among  other  things  he  pro- 
ceeded to  teach  Dr.  Rush  his  place  in  the  world,  which, 
according  to  Cobbett,  was  a  small  one ;  but  his  lan- 
guage, unfortunately  for  him,  grew  too  vigorous  at 
times.  He  called  Rush  a  "poisonous  trans-Atlantic 
quack",  and  ridiculed  in  Porcupine's  bitterest  and  wit- 
tiest style  the  "intemperate  bleeding"  and  the  "injudi- 
cious" doses  of  mercury.  He  called  him  the  "Samson" 
in  medicine  who  had  slain  his  thousands  and  tens  of 
thousands.  John  Fenno,  who  published  the  Gazette 
of  the  United  States,  made  similar  charges.    Dr.  Rush 

"  Rush's  Memoirs,  p.  72. 


PROFESSOR   AND   PRACTITIONER  91 

instituted  suit  for  libel  against  both  of  these  men.  The 
suit  against  Fenno  was  dropped,  for  what  reason  we 
do  not  know,  but  Cobbett  said  it  was  because  Fenno, 
being  an  American,  could  not  have  been  convicted 
with  a  jury  of  his  countrymen.  Cobbett  asked  that 
the  case  be  tried  in  the  United  States  courts,  but  Chief- 
Justice  McKean  overruled  the  plea.  Before  the  case 
came  to  trial  McKean  had  become  the  Governor  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  the  court  was  presided  over  by 
Judge  Shippen.  Cobbett's  defense  was  that  his  articles 
were  not  libellous,  (although  one  of  them  was  headed. 
"Can  the  Rush  Grow  Up  Without  Mire?")  and  that 
his  remarks  were  fair  comments  on  a  public  subject. 
But  this  American  jury — "the  villains",  Cobbett  called 
them — thought  otherwise,  and  brought  in  a  verdict  in 
favor  of  Rush  in  the  sum  of  $5000.-^  Dr.  Rush  gave 
the  award  to  charity.  The  expenses  of  the  action  and 
damages  together  amounted  to  $8000,  and  Cobbett  was 
financially  ruined.     He  soon  returned  to  England. 

In  the  winter  of  1798,  Dr.  Rush  and  some  of  his 
friends,  in  opposition  to  the  College  of  Physicians, 
organized  a  society,  called  the  Academy  of  Medicine. 
The  organization  was  short-lived,  and  its  publications 

"  Scharf  and  Westcott.    Vol.  I,  pp.  498,  499. 

Lewis  Melville,  The  Life  and  Letters  of  William  Cobbett 
in  England  and  America.  2  Vols.  London.  John  Lane.  1913. 
Vol.  I,  pp.  92-117  and  passim. 


92  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

to  prove  that  the  yellow  fever  had  a  domestic  origin, 
"fell  dead  from  the  press."^^ 

Owing  to  opposition,  originating  in  his  yellow  fever 
disputes.  Dr.  Rush's  practice  fell  off  materially  in  the 
last  years  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  decline  was 
so  marked  that  at  one  time  (1797)  he  made  prepara- 
tions to  remove  to  New  York  City.  Application  wa.> 
made  for  him  for  a  medical  professorship  in  Columbia 
College.  Dr.  John  Rodgers  of  that  institution  reports 
a  vote  of  its  medical  faculty  expressing  that  it  is  the 
sense  of  that  body  that  the  appointment  of  Dr.  Rush 
would  be  an  honor  to  the  faculty  and  that  the  Board 
of  Trustees  should  be  memorialized  to  elect  him  tc 
the  chair  of  Practice.  He  failed  of  election  through 
the  opposition  of  Alexander  Hamilton,  then  a  member 
of  the  Board.  Dr.  Rodgers  was  mortified  by  the  fail 
ure  to  secure  Rush  for  Columbia ;  but  the  latter  was 
soon  able  to  look  back  upon  the  incident  with  the  ut- 
most composure.^* 

This  came  about  through  his  appointment  to  the 
Treasurership  of  the  United  States  Mint,  by  President 
Adams.  Adams,  in  consulting  with  his  Secretary  of 
State,  Timothy  Pickering,  about  the  appointment 
wrote  from  Quincy,  Massachusetts,  Sept.  18,  1797. 
"Dr.  Rush,  I  have  known,  esteemed,  and  loved,  these 

*"  "Memoirs",  p.  74. 

•*  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  25,  p.  22  et  seq. 


PROFESSOR  AND   PRACTITIONER  93 

three  and  twenty  years.  His  learning  and  ingenuity 
are  respectable,  and  his  public  and  private  virtues 
amiable.  His  services,  from  the  beginning  of  our  great 
Revolution,  were  conspicuous  and  meritorious.  He  had 
no  small  share  in  recommending  our  present  Constitu- 
tion, and  might  be  eminently  useful  to  the  present  ad- 
ministration." And  as  it  happened,  Pickering  was  also 
a  personal  friend  and,  while  a  resident  of  Philadelphia, 
a  neighbor  of  Dr.  Rush.  During  the  course  of  the  fall 
of  the  year  1797  numerous  letters  passed  between  the 
President  and  his  Secretary  of  State  relative  to  the 
appointment.  Adams  at  one  time  said  that  whoever 
received  the  appointment  ought  to  consider  himself 
highly  honored  because  of  the  great  number  and  high 
character  of  the  applicants  from  among  whom  he 
would  be  selected. ^^  Dr.  Rush  was  appointed  and  held 
the  office  for  the  remaining  fifteen  years  of  his  life.^® 

Dr.  Rush's  connection  with  another  Philadelphia 
institution  was  also  of  lonsr  continuance.  At  the  verv 
beginning  of  his  medical  career,  while  studying  with 
Dr.  Redman  he  had  been  given  clinical  facilities  at  the 
Pennsylvania  Hospital  and  thus  had  opportunity  to 
observe  the  practice  of  all  the  physicians  of  the  staff. 
Afterward   he   himself  was   for   all   but   thirty   years 

'^  C,  W.  Upham  and  O.  Pickering,  Life  of  Timothy  Pick- 
ering; in,  p.  457  ff. 

*>  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  25,  p.  34. 


94  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

(1783-1813)  a  member  of  that  staff  and  for  most  of 
that  period  quite  the  most  famous  member.^^  It  was 
here,  while  in  charge  of  the  insane  that  he  made  the 
observations  and  reflections  detailed  in  his  "Inquiries 
and  Observations  upon  the  Diseases  of  the  Mind,"  a 
work  which  has  earned  him  the  title  of  "The  Father 
of  American  Psychiatry." 

A  third  Philadelphia  institution,  the  first  dispen- 
sary in  the  city,  not  only  received  Dr.  Rush's  enthu- 
siastic services  and  support,  but  even  owes  its  origin 
to  his  initiative.  He  persuaded  Dr.  Moyes,  a  scientist, 
to  donate  the  proceeds  of  some  lectures  on  scientific 
subjects,  as  a  beginning.  This  fund  augmented  by 
contributions  from  philanthropic  individuals  made  pos- 
sible the  opening  of  the  Philadelphia  Dispensary  in 
1786.  It  was  the  first  free  medical  dispensary,  not  only 
in  the  city,  but  in  America. 

"  W.  P.  and  J.  P.  Cutler,  Life,  Journals  and  Correspond- 
ence of  Rev.  Manasseh  Cutler,  LL.D.  1888.  2  Vols.  There 
is  an  interesting  account  of  Dr.  Cutler's  visit  to  Philadelphia 
in  1787  while  on  business  for  the  Ohio  Compan3^  He  visited 
Rush  and  also  accompanied  him  on  a  regular  visit  to  the 
Hospital.  His  remarks  upon  the  extreme  punctuality  and 
the  formality  with  which  his  visits  to  the  Hospital  were 
made  give  us  a  glimpse  of  the  Doctor's  professional  manners. 
Cutler  speaks  of  Rush  as  ''the  perfect  gentleman"  and  one  of 
"the  first  literary  characters  of  America".  (See  p.  257,  p.  279, 
etc.,  of  Vol.  I,  Cutler's  Life  of  Cutler.) 


AN  APPRECIATION  95 

What  a  wonderful  man  was  Doctor  Rush !  Here  is 
material  enough  for  four  lives  of  ordinary  men.  He 
was  an  Author,  Philanthropist,  Patriot  and  Statesman, 
and  Physician. 

As  an  author  he  was  influential  in  his  day ;  his 
style  clear,  yet  full ;  burdened  with  a  message,  yet 
making  straight  for  the  point.  He  made  few  attempts 
at  anything  approaching  belles-lettres.  And  the  day 
has  long  passed  since  anyone  would  say  as  Manasseh 
Cutler  said  in  1787 :  "He  is  one  of  the  first  literary  char- 
acters in  America."  His  numerous  publications  were 
for  the  most  part  intended  and  regarded  as  the  means 
of  advancing  the  various  ''causes"  in  which  he  was 
interested. 

The  titles  in  the  bibliography  will  show  what  these 
causes  were.  They  will  show  that  he  was  throughout 
life  a  lover  of  his  kind ;  a  friend  of  the  poor,  the  dis- 
tressed, the  unfortunate  and  the  criminal.  He  was 
one  of  the  first  champions  of  the  slave ;  one  of  the 
founders  and  for  many  years  an  officer  in  the  first  abo- 
lition society  in  America.  He  was  one  of  the  earliest 
advocates  of  temperance.  He  had  the  vision,  the  wis- 
dom and  the  courage  to  urge  the  reformation  of  the 
bibulous  habits  of  his  time.  He  rests  from  his  labors 
in  the  shadow  of  a  tree  which  is  thus  described  in  a 
tablet  over  his  grave :   "On  the  3rd  of  November,  1885, 


96  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

the  officers  and  delegates  of  the  National  Women's 
Christian  Temperance  Union  from  forty  states  and 
numbering  300  by  their  representatives  planted  this 
oak  tree  in  token  of  their  reverence  for  the  memory  of 
Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  instaurator  of  the  American  tem- 
perance reform,  one  hundred  years  ago."  He  labored 
early  for  penal  reform^^,  for  the  abolition  of  the  death 
penalty,  for  humane  treatment  and  enlightened  care  of 
the  insane,  for  humanity  in  the  handling  of  animals. 
And  it  is  to  be  mentioned  as  bearing  on  the  last  sub- 
ject that  he  urged  the  establishment  of  a  school  of 
veterinary  medicine.  His  labors  for  education  of  all 
grades  and  for  all  people  are  elsewhere  discussed. 

Not  only  did  he  advocate  the  reforms,  but  he  la- 
bored with  his  hands  and  gave  largely  of  his  time  and 
means  to  bring  them  about.  There  are  few  men  who 
in  the  hurry  of  a  successful  career  have  had  time  to 
prepare  as  many  papers,  deliver  as  many  addresses, 
and  attend  as  many  meetings  in  the  interest  of  all 
kinds  of  human  betterment  as  did  Benjamin  Rush  and 
his  inspirer  and  exemplar,  Benjamin  Franklin. 

^  jj;  H<  't'  5)= 

"From  his  early  life  to  his  old  age,  his  patriotism 

"One  of  the  many  minor  generosities  of  his  life  was  the 
sift  of  a  cart-load  of  water  melons  to  the  prisoners  in  the 
Philadelphia  jail,  Sept.  16,  1800.  In  thanking  him  they  men- 
tion also  other  acts  of  ''remembrance  and  benevolence"  to- 
ward them.    Rush,  MSS.,  Vol.  21,  p.  7. 


AN  APPRECIATION  97 

could  not  be  doubted,  and  whenever  a  question  re- 
garding freedom  arose  he  was  sure  to  take  the  side  of 
freedom.  As  he  was  one  of  the  first  to  speak  for  inde- 
pendence, he  was  one  of  the  first,  publicly  as  well  as 
privately,  to  speak  for  the  abolition  of  slavery,  and  to 
treat  the  colored  people  as  fellow-men  and  fellow-citi- 
zens ;  and  to  his  last  breath  he  was  devoted  to  those 
principles  of  Jefferson  which  were  humane  and  liber- 
al." So  writes  George  Bancroft.  Dr.  Rush  was  a  pa- 
triot through  and  through.  Not  only  did  he  openly 
advocate  the  independence  of  the  nation  long  before 
the  Declaration,  but  he  ever  stood  for  national  as 
against  sectional  interests,  for  right  and  justice  and 
honest  finance  as  against  mere  temporary  policy  and 
opportunism. 

He  was  not  perfect.  His  egoism  and  his  restless 
ambition  knew  no  ceasing  on  this  side  of  the  grave. 
And  in  consequence  he  was  frequently  intolerant  of 
the  opinions  of  others.  He  was  a  man  of  many  con- 
troversies, some  of  them  righteous ;  but  some  of  them 
the  result  of  an  impetuous  temper.  There  was  prob- 
ably no  man  of  his  time  about  whose  character  more 
diverse  opinions  were  held  by  his  contemporaries. 

But  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  he  had  for  life-long 
friends  men  so  different  in  taste  and  temperament  as 
Dr.  John  Redman,  Charles  Thomson,  John  Adams  and 
Thomas  Jefferson.     He  said,  and  I  believe  truly,  that 


98  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

he  had  ever,  in  all  the  enterprises  of  his  life,  aimed  less 
to  serve  himself  than  the  public.  ''I  feel  a  satisfaction 
in  reposing  my  reputation  in  the  justice  of  those  who 
shall  come  after  me.  *  *  *  They  will  be  the  best  judges 
whether  I  have  added  to  the  knowledge  and  happiness 
or  to  the  errors  and  miseries  of  my  fellow-citizens." 
Human  frailties  and  errors  Rush  himself  freely  ac- 
knowledged. And  posterity  has  as  freely  and  magnan- 
imously forgotten  them,  while  it  agrees,  in  the  main, 
with  the  noble  tribute  penned  by  George  Bancroft."^ 
"The  profession  of  medicine,"  he  wrote,  "no  less  than 
that  of  war,  hath  its  bead-roll  of  heroes,  who  have  de- 
fied death  in  the  discharge  of  duty.  When  an  infec- 
tious pestilence,  raging  in  Philadelphia,  rapidly  swept 
nearly  four  thousand  to  the  grave,  Rush  despised  ev- 
ery consideration  of  personal  safety,  and  was  so  true 
day  and  night  to  his  patients,  that  it  was  said  of  him 
in  Europe:  'Not  Philadelphia  alone  but  mankind 
should  raise  him  a  statue.'  " 

'"For  reference  see  note  17  of  this  chapter. 


CHAPTER  IV 

BENJAMIN  RUSH  AND  DICKINSON 
COLLEGE 

Education  is  partly  a  matter  of  theory,  partly  a 
matter  of  practice.  Histories  of  education  too  fre- 
quently discuss  the  development  of  the  theory  or  phi- 
losophy of  education  and  neglect  to  give  a  detailed 
account  of  educational  institutions,  and  educational 
practice.  Such  accounts  of  institutions  as  we  have 
are  often  colored  by  the  veneration  that  is  sometimes 
felt  by  old  graduates  for  their  alma  mater.  We  should 
aim  at  descriptions  that  are  composed  of  verified  facts, 
based  on  authentic  documents  definitely  cited.  Only 
thus  can  we  hope  to  arrive  at  an  approximation  of 
historic  truth. 

The  present  chapter  is  an  attempt  to  write,  on  these 
lines,  an  account  of  the  early  history  of  one  of  the 
smaller,  but  useful  colleges  of  Pennsylvania. 

In  a  letter  of  1783.  written  by  Benjamin  Rush  to 
his  friend.  John  Montgomery,  there  is  a  postscript, 
consisting  of  the  two  words,  ''Bingham's  Porch"  doub- 


100  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

ly  underscored.^  A  note,  added  at  a  later  date,  tells  us 
that  "These  words  allude  to  the  first  conversation 
upon  the  subject  of  a  college  at  Carlisle  between  John 
Montgomery  and  B.  Rush  having  taken  place  at  Mr. 
[William]  Bingham's  porch."  The  words  became  a 
catchword  with  these  men,  the  original  projectors  of 
Dickinson  College ;  and,  many  years  afterward,  at  a 
time  when  the  outlook  for  the  College  was  gloomy, 
Rush  wrote  :^  "But  let  us  not  despair  of  the  object  of 
our  former  hopes  and  present  affections.  Providence 
will  sooner  or  later  appear  for  us.  Let  us  finish  our 
building  and  keep  up  the  forms  of  our  College.  All 
will  end  well.  Bingham's  porch  may  wear  away,  but 
the  ideas  conceived  on  it  by  two  of  the  trustees  will 
have  their  full  accomplishment  and  Dickinson  College 
will  one  day  be  the  source  of  light  and  knowledge  to 
the  western  parts  of  the  United  States."  The  date  of 
the  conversation  when  the  plan  to  establish  a  Presby- 
terian College  west  of  the  Susquehanna  was  first  dis- 
cussed, cannot  be  determined,  but  it  is  either  1781  or 
1782.3 

*  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  63.    April  15,  1783. 

'  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42,  p.  91.    July  3,  1802. 

'Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  107.  "The  necessity  and  ad- 
vantages of  a  college  at  Carlisle  appear  the  same  to  me  as 
they  did  in  the  year  1781  (in  the  Ms.  the  last  figure  is  a  2  with 
a  1  to  cover  it)  when  we  first  projected  it."  Rush  to  Mont- 
gomery, January  14,  1785. 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  101 

It  was  in  the  latter  year  that  Dr.  Rush  carried  on 
an  active  correspondence  with  many  persons — chiefly 
Presbyterian  ministers — in  trying  to  arouse  interest 
in  the  proposition/  In  November  of  that  year,  the 
matter  was  publicly  discussed  at  a  meeting  of  the 
members  of  the  presbytery  and  others  at  Carlisle, 
which  formulated  some  objections  that  would  have 
to  be  met.^  The  meeting  seems  to  have  been  called  in 
response  to  a  circular  letter,  sent  out  by  Dr.  Rush  in 
the  fall  of  1782.  The  letter  asked  for  aid  in  putting 
a  petition  for  a  charter  before  the  Legislature.  It  em- 
phasized the  distance  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey 
from  its  Pennsylvania  supporters,  and  the  expense  of 
travel.  Rush  estimated  this  at  one-fifth  the  total  cost 
of  an  education  for  those  people.  It  stated  as  an  ob- 
jection to  the  College  of  Philadelphia  its  location  in  a 
large  city,  which  increased  the  expense  and  endan- 
gered the  morals  of  the  boys.® 

In  that  year  (1782)  also,  Rush  wrote  his  "Hints  for 
Establishing  a  College  at  Carlisle  in  Cumberland 
County,  Pennsylvania"."^  This  paper  is  of  such  im- 
portance in  showing  what  was  in  Dr.  Rush's  mind — 

*This  correspondence  is  contained  in  Vol.  41  of  the 
Rush  MSS. 

''Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  6;  dated  Carlisle,  Nov.  13,  1782. 

*  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  2. 

'Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  1.  The  paper  is  dated  Sept.  3, 
1782. 


102  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

his  motives  and  his  objects — that  extended  quotation 
is  desirable.  It  begins  by  saying  that  "Every  reHgious 
society  should  endeavor  to  preserve  a  representation 
of  itself  in  government.  The  Presbyterians  suffered 
greatly  under  the  old  government  from  the  want  of 
this  representation.^  At  present  they  hold  an  undue 
share  in  the  power  of  Pennsylvania.  They  have  al- 
ready excited  the  jealousy  of  other  societies  and 
powerful  combinations  are  forming  against  them.  To 
secure  a  moderate  and  just  share  in  the  power  of  the 
state  it  becomes  them  to  retire  a  little  from  offices  and 
to  invite  other  societies  to  partake  of  them  with  them. 
To  prevent  the  effect  of  these  combinations  against 
them  reducing  them  to  their  ancient  state  of  oppres- 
sion and  insignificance  it  becomes  them  above  all 
things  to  entrench  themselves  in  schools  of  learning. 
These  are  the  true  Nurseries  of  power  and  influence. 
They  improve  talents  and  virtue  and  these  by  beget- 
ting wealth  form  the  ingredients  that  constitute  power 
in  all  countries.  In  the  present  plentitude  of  power 
of  the  Presbyterians  let  them  obtain  a  Charter  for  a 
College  at  Carlisle  in  Cumberland   County. 

"The  advantages  of  a  College  at  this  place  are, 
(1)  It  will  draw  the  Presbyterians  to  one  common 
center  of  union. 

*The  pre-Revolutionary  government  of  Pennsylvania,  of 
course,  is  meant. 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  103 

(2)  It  will  be  nearly  central  to  the  state,  and  will 
command  the  youth  of  the  new  and  growing  western 
counties  and  perhaps  states. 

(3)  Education  will  be  cheaper  at  Carlisle  than  at  any 
other  equally  improved  village  in  the  state. 

(4)  The  village  of  Carlisle  is  one  of  the  most  healthy 
spots  in  the  state."  The  paper  then  goes  on  to  suggest 
the  formation  of  a  board  of  24  trustees,  11  to  be  a 
quorum  for  ordinary  business ;  that  all  offi,cers  and 
instructors  should  be  Presbyterians  so  as  to  connect 
religion  and  learning;  that  application  be  made  for 
"handsome  endowments"  at  the  time  the  charter  is 
secured ;  that  subscription  books  be  opened  to  secure 
money  for  buildings  for  the  college,  these  buildings  to 
consist  of:  1.  a  church,  2.  a  hall  for  public  prayers, 
3.  a  library,  4.  an  apparatus  room  (laboratory),  5.  a 
recitation  building.  The  "principal"  and  the  "mas- 
ters" should  live  separately  in  "houses  to  be  purchased 
for  them  in  the  town."  The  students  should  be  board- 
ed in  private  families  for  "the  custom  of  crowding  boys 
together  under  one  roof  is  the  remains  of  monkish  ig- 
norance. It  exposes  them  to  many  vices  and  unfits 
them  for  future  commerce  and  connections  in  the 
world.  Men  are  made  to  live  in  families.  They  cannot 
therefore  be  too  early  and  too  constantly  preserved  in 
a  close  connection  with  them.  The  Presbyterians 
should  join  as  soon  as  possible  in  restoring  to  the  Jaw- 


104  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

ful  owners  the  College  of  Philadelphia.  The  reasons 
for  this  advice  are  that:  1.  The  act  abolishing  the  old 
charter  is  unconstitutional ;  2.  The  College  of  Phila- 
delphia was  founded  principally  by  the  Episcopalians, 
six-sevenths  of  the  funds  being  subscribed  by  them, 
and  3.  It  will  be  an  act  of  justice  and  will  moderate 
public  prejudice  against  the  Presbyterians  and  so 
lessen  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  securing  a  charter 
and  support  for  a  college  at  Carlisle." 

This  paper  was  sent  by  Dr.  Rush  to  Carlisle  for 
the  consideration  of  those  in  that  section  who  were 
interested  in  the  scheme ;  and  was  discussed  by  them 
at  a  meeting,  held,  as  we  have  seen,  November  13, 
1782.  As  the  above  summary  shows.  Rush's  argu- 
ments were  of  two  kinds,  in  part  religious — or  secta- 
rian— and  in  part  political.  And  the  strands  are  so 
interwoven  that  it  is  difficult  to  separate  them,  for  the 
party  that  had  come  into  power  several  years  before, 
under  the  lead  of  Joseph  Reed,  George  Bryan  and  Dr. 
Ewing  of  the  new  University,  was  very  largely  a  Pres- 
byterian party.  Between  these  men  and  Dr.  Rush 
there  was  very  little  love  lost.  Rush  in  his  corre- 
spondence calls  them  the  "secret  junto";  the  "pale- 
faced  faction" ;  even,  "the  skunks" ;  and  other  polite 
names  so  frequent  in  many  writings  of  that  day.^  They, 

"Rush  MSS.,  Vol.     41.  pp.  30,  42-45,  47,  49,  87  and  else- 
where. 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  105 

of  course,  retorted  in  kind  and  called  the  college  propo- 
sition "the  pretty  device"  ;  "the  hopeful  scheme"  ;  "the 
moonshine  project".**'  Against  Dr.  Ewing  especially, 
Rush  was  bitter,  charging  him  with  mendacity,  slan- 
der and  other  still  more  serious  faults.  He  even  sev- 
ered his  connection  with  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
of  which  Dr.  Ewing  was  the  pastor.**  The  latter,  in 
turn,  tried  hard  to  prevent  the  success  of  Dr.  Rush's 
plans.  He  wrote  to  the  ministers  of  Cumberland 
County,  urging  that  the  foundation  of  another  college 
would  tend  to  divide  the  Presbyterians;  that  the  funds 
'already  secured  and  in  prospect  were  insufficient;  and 
that  it  was  a  party  scheme,  inspired  by  Dr.  Rush  in 
retaliation  for  his  loss  of  the  professorship  in  the  Col- 
lege of  Philadelphia.  The  second  of  these  counts,  as 
we  shall  see,  was  borne  out  by  the  result.  The  sum- 
mary of  the  "Hints"  given  above,  and  Rush's  corre- 
spondence lend  a  good  deal  of  color  to  the  last  charge.*^ 
Dr.  Francis  Alison,*^  vice-provost  in  the  University, 
also  tried  to  dissuade  Dr.  Rush  from  proceeding  with 
the  plan.  He  said  the  place  chosen  is  too  difficult  of 
access,  being  distant  from  a  navigable  river ;  the  col- 
lege will  tend  to  create  a  Presbyterian  schism ;    the 

''  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  28. 
"  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42,  p.  6. 
"Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41. 
"  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  14. 


106  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

tendency  of  the  times  is  toward  liberality  and  the  es- 
tabhshment  of  a  sectarian  college  would  run  counter 
to  this  trend;  and  finally  he  asks,  "Why  relinquish 
the  present  hold  on  the  University?"  for  if  the  Episco- 
palians make  an  attack  on  that  institution,  that  will  be 
time  enough  to  secure  a  new  charter.  As  if  looking 
back  to  1779  and  forward  to  1789  he  declares,  "If  no 
charter  can  be  obtained,  neither  could  one  now  secured 
be  retained."  George  Bryan,  too,  wrote  to  a  friend  of 
the  College  at  Carlisle  that  he  and  his  friends  were 
amused  by  a  project  of  Dr.  Rush,  who  proposes  a  Col- 
lege at  Carlisle. ^^  "Believe  me,  sir,"  he  says,  "it  is  a 
scheme  of  dividing  the  presbterian  Interest,  and  pre- 
paratory to  transferring  back  the  University  to  the 
narrow  Foundation  which  it  formerly  stood  on,  to  dis- 
miss the  able  and  worthy  Provost,  Dr.  Ewing,  and  to 
turn  us  over  to  a  difficult  if  not  an  impracticable  at- 
tempt to  build  up  a  new  Fund.  ...  It  is  manifest  to 
all  here  why  the  idea  should  have  been  set  up  by 
Rush."  He  goes  on  to  suggest  that  it  was  because  he 
was  piqued  by  his  loss  of  his  professorship. 

After  duly  weighing  and  considering  these  charges 
and  objections  and  such  others  as  presented  them- 
selves,— the  question  of  the  healthfulness  of  Carlisle, 
for  example, — the  correspondents  reported  that  "the 
scheme  of  Dr.  Rush  for  establishing  a  College"  is  very 

"Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  4],  p.  93. 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  107 

agreeable  to  the  subscribers,  but  that  the  following  ob- 
jections had  appeared  during  the  discussion  :^^ 
L    Other  Denominations  may  be  alarmed  by  such  an 
attempt  of  the  Presbyterians. 

2.  To  restore  the  College  of  Philadelphia  to  the  Epis- 
copalians may  divide  the  Presbyterians. 

3.  To   endow   a   College   for  one   denomination   only 
would  be  too  partial  an  application  of  public  property. 

4.  The  Pennsylvania  House  of  Representatives  is  too 
much  occupied  with  more  urgent  business. 

These  objections,  however,  they  decided,  should 
not  prevent  an  attempt  to  carry  out  the  scheme  and 
they  asked  the  help  of  Dr.  Rush  in  framing  a  petition 
to  the  Assembly  for  a  Charter.  Dr.  Rush  replied  that 
the  petition  should  not  mention  endowments,  as  these 
could  be  secured  afterw^ards.  He  had  changed  his 
opinion  on  this  matter  since  writing  the  "Hints".  But 
he  insisted  that  the  Charter  asked  for,  be  for  a  College 
and  not  for  an  Academy  as  some  proposed.^® 

Not  all  the  opposition  to  the  proposed  College  em- 
anated from  Philadelphia,  however,  although  Rush  be- 
lieved and  charged  that  most  of  it  was  inspired  by  the 
men  already  named.  But  one  of  the  Carlisle  oppo- 
nents should,  because  of  his  prominence,  receive  special 

"Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  6.    The  report  is  dated  Carlisle, 
Nov.  13,  1782. 

"  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41.  pp.  22,  24,  25. 


108  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

mention.  This  is  General  John  Armstrong,"  a  charter 
member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  and  for  several  years 
very  influential  in  that  body.  Armstrong  was  a  sup- 
porter of  the  College  of  New  Jersey^^  and  was  for  that 
reason  opposed  at  first  to  the  establishment  of  an  in- 
stitution that  might  be  considered  a  rival  of  it.  He 
was  affiliated  politically  with  the  ruling  party  in  Phila- 
delphia,^^ and  therefore  not  especially  friendly  to  Dr. 
Rush,  or  to  the  Quakers  and  Episcopalians,  who  op- 
posed that  party.  In  his  opinion,  the  establishment  of 
a  college  should  be  delayed  several  years,  and  then 
Pittsburgh  should  be  selected  for  its  site.^" 

As  a  stroke  of  policy  Colonel  Montgomery  sug- 
gested that  the  General  be  placed  on  the  Board  of 
Trustees.-^  Dr.  Rush  approved  the  suggestion,"  Gen. 
Armstrong  took  the  bait  and  this  bit  of  flattery,  to- 
gether with  larger  portions  of  the  same  commodity, 

''  General  John  Armstrong  was  the  father  of  that  Major 
John  Armstrong-  who  became  notorious,  under  the  tutelage 
of  Gates,  as  the  author  of  the  "Newburgh  Addresses"  to  the 
Continental  Army. 

^"Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  13. 

"  Ibid.,  p.  28. 

""Ibid.,  p.  26.  Armstrong  to  Rush,  April.lS,  1783. 

"Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  27.  Montgomery  to  Rush,  April 
15,  1783. 

"  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  29.  Rush  to  Montgomery,  May 
3,  1783.  "General  Armstrong  has  answered  my  letter  to  him 
in  the  most  respectful  terms.  You  acted  wisely  in  insisting 
on  his  becoming  a  trustee." 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  109 

disarmed  his  opposition  and  he  remained  a  loyal  friend 
of  the  institution.  When  one  sees  how  Rush  appealed 
to  his  religious  principles  and  prejudices,  his  vanity, 
and  his  cupidity,  one  is  tempted  to  say  that  the  good 
doctor  should  have  followed  his  first  inclination  and 
have  become  a  lawyer.  Rush  wrote  in  part  :-^  ''I  am 
no  stranger  to  the  opposition  that  has  been  excited 
against  the  scheme  in  your  county,  by  some  gentlemen 
in  this  city,  nor  am  I  inacquainted  [sic]  with  the  very 
illiberal  reflections  that  have  been  thrown  upon  me 
for  favoring  the  design  by  two  of  those  gentlemen.  I 
have  nothing  to  say  by  way  of  retaliation.  The  only 
design  of  this  letter  is  to  explain  to  you  more  fully,  the 
advantages  to  be  derived  [sic]  to  the  state  at  large 
and  to  the  Presbyterian  society  in  particular  from  a 
nursery  of  religion  and  learning  on  the  west  side  of 
the  river  Susquehanna. 

''The  manner  in  which  the  Presbyterians  seized 
their  present  share  of  power  in  the  University  of 
Philadelphia  has  given  such  general  offense,  that  there 
is  little  doubt  of  an  attempt  being  made  in  the  course 
of  a  few  years  to  restore  it  to  its  original  owners.  The 
old  trustees  say  that  the  present  charter  is  contrary  to 
the  Constitution  of  the  state  and  to  ever}^  principle  of 
justice  and  I  find  a  great  many  of  the  most  respectable 

''Rush  MSS..  Vol.  41.  p.  20.     Rush  to  Armstrong,  March 
19.  1783. 


110  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

members  of  the  assembly  are  of  the  same  opinion.  .  .  . 
"But  supposing  the  present  trustees  held  the  uni- 
versity by  the  most  equitable  and  constitutional  ten- 
ure, it  cannot  be  viewed  as  a  nursery  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church.  .  .  .  From  its  extreme  Catholicism,  I  am 
sorry  to  say  that  as  no  religion  prevails,  so  no  relig- 
ious principles  are  inculcated  in  it.  .  .  .  Religion  is  best 
supported  under  the  patronage  of  particular  societies. 
Instead  of  encouraging  bigotry,  I  believe  it  prevents 
it  by  removing  young  men  from  those  opportunities 
of  controversy  which  a  variety  of  sects  mixed  together 
are  apt  to  cause  and  which  are  the  certain  fuel  of 
bigotry.  Religion  is  necessary  to  correct  the  effects 
of  learning.  Without  religion,  I  believe,  learning  does 
real  mischief  to  the  morals  and  principles  of  mankind. 
A  mode  of  worship  is  necessary  to  support  religion 
and  education  is  the  surest  way  of  producing  a  prefer- 
ence and  constant  attachment  to  a  mode  of  wor- 
ship.^* .... 

"Some  people  talk  loudly  of  the  increase  of  liberality 
and  sentiment  upon  religious  subjects  since  the  war, 
but  I  suspect  that  this  boasted  Catholicism  arises  chief- 
ly from  an  indifference  acquired  since  the  war  to  re- 

"  There  is  evidence  in  his  correspondence  that  Dr.  Rush 
contemplated  the  establishment  of  a  theological  seminary,  to 
be  called  "The  School  of  the  Prophets",  in  connection  with 
the  College.  Letter  from  Will  Smith,  Eden  Academy,  Md., 
1785,  etc.    See  Vols.  9  and  16,  Rush  MSS. 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  111 

ligion  itself.  We  only  change  the  names  of  our  vices 
and  follies  in  different  periods  of  time.  Religious 
bigotry  has  yielded  to  political  intolerance.  The  man 
who  used  to  hate  his  neighbor  for  being  a  churchman 
or  a  quaker,  now  hates  him  with  equal  cordiality  for 
being  a  tory." 

''Colleges  are  the  best  schools  for  divinity,"  and, 
therefore,  the  Presbyterian  Church  needs  colleges  to 
teach  its  system  of  divinity. 

Other  points  that  he  emphasizes  pertain  to  the  ex- 
pense of  an  education  in  Philadelphia,  and  the  large 
city's  evil  effects  on  the  morals  of  the  youth.  The 
College  of  New  Jersey  is  too  far  from  the  western 
counties.  The  trip  would  be  too  expensive  in  time  and 
money.  The  Presbyterians  are  leaving  Pennsylvania 
and  a  College  would  help  to  retain  them  in  the  State. 
Furthermore,  a  College  at  Carlisle,  by  spreading 
knowledge  and  cultivating  the  talent  for  politics  and 
public  speaking  in  the  young  men  of  the  West,  Avould 
create  the  only  possible  balance  to  the  growing  and 
already  overshadowing  power  and  wealth  of  the  me- 
tropolis. 

He  avers  a  second  and  again  a  third  time,  that  the 
movement  is  not  the  offspring  of  any  personal  resent- 
ment. Perhaps  he  protests  a  little  too  much.  "The 
story  suggested  by  Mr.  Bryan,  that  I  am  actuated  by 
resentment  against  the  university  for  turning  me  out 


112  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

of  my  professorship  in  my  endeavours  to  serve  the 
interests  of  religion  and  of  the  Presbyterian  church 
in  your  county  is  too  absurd  to  be  contradicted.  Mr. 
Bryan  is  a  man  of  too  much  understanding  to  believe 
it  himself." 

The  scheme,  he  confidently  asserts,  will  succeed. 
It  is  being  patronized  by  all  classes  and  especially  by 
Mr.  Dickinson,  a  Quaker,  and  Mr.  Bingham,  an  Epis- 
copalian. And  he  makes  the  audacious  statement  that 
he  is  writing  to  inform  General  Armstrong  of  the 
trend  of  affairs  so  that  he,  on  learning  where  the  heavi- 
est battalions  are,  may  espouse  the  winning  side. 
Lastly  he  appeals  to  his  correspondent's  avarice  by 
recalling  to  him  how  the  location  of  the  College  of 
New  Jersey  at  Princeton  increased  the  values  of  land 
in  its  vicinity. 

The  letter,  it  will  be  admitted,  discloses  the  powers 
of  the  special  pleader  in  a  marked  degree,  except  that 
it  might  be  objected  that  he  presses  his  arguments 
too  hard.  But,  no  doubt,  he  knew  the  man  to  whom 
he  appealed  ;  at  any  rate,  as  we  have  already  seen,  the 
letter  had  the  desired  effect. 

At  its  meeting  in  April,  1783,  the  Carlisle  pres- 
bytery gave  its  approval  to  the  design. ^^    The  Board 

''  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  21.    Montgomery  to  Rush,  April 
15,  1783. 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  113 

of  Trustees  was  quietly  selected-*^  by  the  supporters 
of  the  plan  and  preparations  were  made  to  introduce 
a  petition  for  a  charter  when  the  Assembly  should 
meet  in  the  fall.  Meanwhile,  however,  the  Synod  met 
in  Philadelphia ;  and  some  of  the  proposed  trustees, 
when  they  came  to  hear  the  representations  of  the 
opposition  in  the  city,  were  ''much  staggered",  and 
returned  to  Carlisle,  "some  but  half  converts  to  the 
right,  some  nearly,  if  not  quite,  apostates.""^  Because 
of  this  situation  it  became  necessary  to  select  others 
in  their  places.  Furthermore,  Rush  suggested  that 
s-ome  Germans  should  be  admitted  to  the  Board,  both 
to  widen  the  constituency  and  to  provide  a  larger  field 
for  soliciting  funds. "^  He,  therefore,  proposed  to  in- 
crease the  number  of  Trustees  from  twenty-four  to 
thirty.  Reverend  Mr.  Black  of  Marsh  Creek,  Cumber- 
land County,  who  had  engineered  the  approval  of  the 
presbytery,  also  insisted  that  some  "Covenanters  and 
Creeders",  that  is,  adherents  of  the  German  Lutheran 
and  Reformed  Churches,  should  be  chosen  for  the 
Board.    This  was  done,  and  finally  the  list  of  Trustees 

^  Vol.  41,  p.  27.    There  were  24  Trustees  in  this  first  list. 

''John  Black,  Marsh  Creek,  June  21,  1783  in  a  letter  to 
Rush  makes  these  statements  saying  that  the  friends  of  the 
College  had  been  "tampered  with  in  Philadelphia".  Rush 
MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  31. 

=*Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  29.  Rush  to  Montgomery,  May 
3,  1783. 


114  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

included  forty  names,  thirteen  being-  those  of  minis- 
ters of  various  denominations.  Some  of  these  men 
were  in  a  few  years  to  become  leaders  in  the  establish- 
ment of  a  German  College  in  Lancaster,  Pa.  (Franklin, 
now  Franklin  and  Marshall).-^ 

The  petition  to  the  Assembly  for  a  charter  re- 
counted the  importance  and  blessing  of  education,  the 
provisions  of  the  State  Constitution^^  on  the  subject, 
the  advantages  of  Carlisle  as  the  site  for  a  College. 
It  prays  for  an  endowment  by  the  State,  but  the  peti- 
tioners declare  themselves  willing  "to  submit  to  your 
[the  Assembly's]  wisdom  in  this."^"* 

On  July  29  Rush  reports  to  Montgomery,  then 
a  member  of  the  Congress,  sitting  at  Princeton  since 
its  ignominious  flight  from  Philadelphia,  that  "his 
letter  with  the  Charter  came  safe  to  hand."^^  Having 
secured  the  services  of  James  Wilson  and  John  Dickin- 
son in  revising  it,  all  was  ready  for  the  grand  attempt. 

^  For  the  list  of  original  Trustees  see  the  Appendix. 
Hendel  and  Muhlenberg  were  active  in  the  foundation  of 
Franklin  College  as  indeed  was  Rush  himself  at  least  to  the 
extent  of  allowing  himself  to  be  chosen  a  member  of  the 
Board. 

'"This  was  the  first  State  Constitution  of  Pennsylvania. 
It  was  adopted  in  1776. 

"  This  petition  has  64  signatures.  It  is  not  dated.  Rush 
MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  4.  There  is  also  an  earlier  draft  of  a  peti- 
tion among  the  Rush  papers,  Vol.  41. 

'"Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41.  p.  36. 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  115 

On  September  1  he  writes  again  :"^^  "The  ice  is  at  last 
broken  and  leave  has  been  obtained  to  bring  in  a  bill 
to  found  a  college  at  Carlisle.  Joseph  Mont[gomer]y 
opposed  the  plan  [or  place,  word  illegible]  violently 
and  plead  [sic]  hard  for  the  sickly  banks  of  Susque- 
hannah  where  the  youth  would  enjoy  fogs,  and  the 
society  of  boatmen,  waggoners  and  such  like  compan- 
ions for  half  a  century  to  come.  He  lost  his  motion 
by  only  four  votes.  .  .  .  Sharp  detests  Joseph's  act  in 
his  opposition  so  much  that  he  declares  until  his  name 
is  struck  out  from  among  the  trustees  he  will  not  sup- 
port the  scheme  any  longer.  It  shall  be  done.^*  He 
now  says  he  shall  urge  with  all  his  might  for  a  college 
but  it  shall  be  anywhere  in  the  County  of  Cumberland 
but  not  in  Carlisle  until  the  people  in  the  other  towns 
have  been  consulted.  All  this  is  to  gain  time  and 
finally  to  divide  and  destroy  the  scheme.  Ewing  and 
Reed  could  not  oppose  us  with  more  specious  and  in- 
sidious maneuvers.  Do  come  to  town  immediately — 
we  suiTer  daily  from  the  want  of  your  advice  and  pas- 
sionate honesty  as  Sharp  calls  it.     Everything  hangs 

''  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  38. 

^*  It  was  done.  Joseph  Montgomery's  name  does  not  ap- 
pear among  the  original  Trustees  but  he  was  elected  four 
years  later  and  served  un.til  1794,  Rush  seems  to  have  re- 
gretted this  omission  later.  See  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  62.  The 
list  of  the  original  Trustees  is,  of  course,  given  in  the  Charter 
and  is  copied  here  in  an  Appendix. 


116  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

upon  the  next  two  weeks.  If  we  fail  this  session — 
you  will  see  petitions  (composed  in  Philadelphia)  next 
year  from  Harrisburg — Chambersburg — Shippen's 
Town  and  even  Pittsburgh — against  the  town  of  Car- 
lisle. Colonel  McPherson  and  Jackson  are  much  en- 
gaged for  us — but  they  want  you  with  them.  Do  set 
off  the  next  day  after  you  get  this  letter.  We  have 
not  a  moment  to  lose.  I  am  so  wholly  taken  up  with 
my  business  that  I  can  do  nothing.  .  .  .  Haste — haste, 
my  friend,  or  we  are  undone."  The  Charter  was 
granted  September  9,  1783.^^ 

The  Board  of  Trustees  went  to  work  with  a  will, 
and  held  three  meetings  in  less  than  that  number  of 
weeks. ^^  The  first  meeting  was  held  at  the  home  of 
Governor  Dickinson  in  Philadelphia.  The  Board  was 
organized  by  the  election  of  John  Dickinson,  president, 
and  Reverend  William  Linn,  secretary.^^   Rush  had  at 

'^'Himes,  C.  F.,  A  Sketch  of  Dickinson  College,  implies 
that  the  Charter  was  granted  Sept.  8.  The  same  inference 
seems  to  follow  from  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  39,  where  John 
Black  says  the  granting  of  the  Charter  was  announced  in  a 
letter  by  Rush  of  Sept.  8.  But  this  is  a  mistake.  Rush  prob- 
ably knew  what  the  vote  would  be  and  anticipated  the  event. 
See  also  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42,  p.  123,  where  the)  correct  date, 
Sepit.  9,  is  given.  See  Statutes-at-Large  of  Pa.,  Mitchell  & 
Flanders,  Vol.  XI,  pp.  114-120,  for  text  of  the  Charter. 

=""  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  42. 

"See  Rush  MSS.,  passim;  and  also  Himes,  C.  F.,  A 
Sketch  of  Dickinson  College. 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  117 

one  time  proposed  to  call  the  institution  "John  and 
Mary  College",  in  honor  of  Mr.  Dickinson  and  wife, 
and  probably  in  imitation  of  William  and  Mary,  the 
second  oldest  College  in  America.  But  the  name 
''Dickinson  College"  was  now  formally  adopted  by 
the  granting  of  the  Charter. 

The  financial  problem  was  the  most  urgent  one 
then  to  be  solved ;  and  after  it  came  the  selection  of  a 
president.  Dr.  Rush  was  most  assiduous  in  working 
out  a  satisfactory  solution  of  each  of  them.  Nearly  a 
year  before  the  Charter  was  granted,  he  announced 
that  Mr.  Dickinson  would  become  "a  liberal  contribu- 
tor to  us."  This  he  undoubtedly  did,  but  the  exact 
nature  and  extent  of  his  donations  are  not  known.  In 
March,  1783,  Rush  states,  in  the  letter  to  Armstrong 
already  noticed,  that  "The  President  of  the  State  [Mr. 
Dickinson],  who  you  know  is  a  quaker,  has  given  us 
a  tract  of  land  worth  £600."  Two  hundred  acres  in  a 
"plantation"  on  Marsh  Creek,  in  what  is  now  Adams 
County,  formed  a  part  of  this  contribution,  if  not  the 
whole  of  it.^^  Subsequently  he  added  five  hundred 
acres  in  Cumberland  County.  He  also  gave  a  collec- 
tion of  books — fifteen  hundred  volumes,  it  has  been 
stated,  but  this  is  certainly  erroneous — from  his  libra- 

^  I  follow  Himes  in  this  and  the  following  sentence. 
The  Stille  version  is  somewhat  different.  (See  following  foot- 
note.) 


118  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

ry.^*  About  the  same  time  that  Mr.  Dickinson  made 
his  first  grant  ^Ir.  Bingham  contributed  loan  office 
certificates  to  the  amount  of  £400.  In  May,  1783,  Mr. 
Bingham  and  his  family  went  to  England  on  a  visit, 
and  he  agreed  to  leave  his  donation  with  Dr.  Rush."**' 
Even  so.  he  did  not  escape  that  persistent  collector's 
importunity.  Upon  his  sailing  for  England  the  Doctor 
addressed  a  letter  to  him  thanking  him  in  the  name  of 
"the  frontier  counties"  for  his  generous  contribution, 
and  suggesting  that,  "in  mingling  with  the  great",  he 
should  solicit  "books,  philosophical  instruments  and 
apparatus;"  and  "in  mingling  with  the  wealthy", 
money. ^^  But  probably  nothing  came  of  this.  for.  as 
Richard  Price,  writing  from  England,  said,  "the  war  is 
too  recent  to  hope  for  anything  from  the  royalists  and 
the  dissenters  have  enough  to  do  to  maintain  them- 
ves. 

Recourse  was.  therefore,  had  to  subscriptions  from 
the  people  of  the  State,  as  well  as  Baltimore.  Some 
of  these  were  not  in  small  amounts.     James  Jacks  of 

^  Charles  J.  Slille  (The  Life  and  Times  of  John  Dickin- 
son [1732-1808].  Philadelphia,  Lippincott,  1891)  says  (pp.  326- 
328),  Dickinson  presented  to  the  College  Library  the  books 
which  were  saved  from  the  burning  of  the  Xorris  library  at 
Fairhill  by  the  British  Army  in  1777,  amounting  to  15(X) 
volumes.     Xo  source  is  given. 

*•  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  29. 

"Ibid.,  p.  11. 

"Ibid.,  p.  10. 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  119 

Lancaster,  a  trustee,  agreed  to  donate  loan  office  cer- 
tificates amounting  to  $5,000.^^  Subscription  books 
were  opened  September  19,  1783.  They  were  sent  to 
the  solicitors  with  the  following  note  from  President 
Dickinson  :''■* 
"Gentlemen : 

"This  letter  will  be  delivered  to  you  with  books 
for  subscriptions;  and  it  is  the  desire  of  the  Trustees, 
that  your  proceedings  in  the  business  may  be  reported 
to  the  Board  at  the  Meeting  to  be  held  the  6th  day  of 
April  next  at  Carlisle." 

It  was  suggested  by  some  that  ministers  should 
be  sent  two  by  two  into  every  congregation  of  Presby- 
terians throughout  the  State. "^^  Rush  urges  Montgom- 
ery to  come  to  Philadelphia  and  bring  General  Arm- 
strong to  help  solicit  subscriptions."^^  But  Montgom- 
ery, who  had  lost  his  seat  in  Congress,  and  was  now 
at  his  Carlisle  home,  did  not  come.  Rush  wrote  again 
three  months  later,  "Indeed  my  good  friend,  I  have 
been  very  angry  at  you.  You  impose  too  much  upon 
me."    But  he  reports  at  the  same  time  that  the  sub- 

*'  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  56.  Letter  to  James  Jacks,  dated 
Feb.  3,  1784,  apparently  to  Rush.  Jacks  says  the  people  of 
his  town  were  jealous  that  Lancaster  was  not  the  site  se- 
lected. 

**  Ibid.,  p.  40. 

"  Ibid.,  p.  54. 

*Ibid.,  p.  49;  Nov.  15,  1783. 
5 


120  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

scriptions  will  amount  to  £10,000  in  a  few  months.*'' 
But  a  great  deal  of  this  sum  seems  to  have  been  in 
land,  often  not  immediately  productive,  or  in  loan 
office  certificates,  whose  value  was  problematic.  Rob- 
ert Morris,  however,  is  said  to  have  headed  the  Phila- 
delphia list  with  a  subscription  for  £375.^^.  Others, 
however,  were  less  generous  and  from  the  solicitors  in 
the  country  districts  came  complaints  of  the  hard 
times,  the  weight  of  the  taxes  and  the  scarcity  of 
cash."  '    '1 

The  aid  from  the  state,  too,  was  tardy.  The  finan- 
ces of  the  commonwealth  were  not  in  good  condition 
at  this  time.  But  in  1786  (April  7)  the  first  grant  was 
made.  In  persuading  the  Legislature  to  make  this  ap- 
propriation. Dr.  Rush  was,  again,  a  leading  force. ^** 
The  grant  included  £500  in  specie  and  ten  thousand 
acres  of  land.^^   Two  years  later  (October  3,  1788)  the 

"  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  57;  Feb.  17,  1784. 

**  See  Himes,  C.  F.,  A  Sketch  etc.,  where  the  names  of 
other  prominent  contributors  are  given:  John  Cadwallader, 
Thomas  Willing,  Charles  Thompson,  Benjamin  Paschal,  Ed- 
ward Shippen,  John  Ross. 

«•  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  pp.  51,  53,  61. 

'"See  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  84.  Letter  from  Rush  to 
Montgomery,  dated  July  31,  1784.  Rush  at  this  time  was 
jubilant  over  the  prospects,  saying:  ''All  will  end  well;  Bing- 
ham's Porch." 

"  Apparently  they  got  more  than  they  expected.  See 
Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  172,  where  King  speaks  of  6000  acres 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  121 

Legislature  vested  the  title  of  a  lot  in  Carlisle  for  a 
campus,  in  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  College. ^^  In 
1789  (Mar.  27)  the  Legislature  authorized  the  "City 
Hall  and  Dickinson  College  Lottery"  which  was  to  net 
ten  thousand  dollars.  Of  this  sum  eight  thousand  dol- 
lars was  to  be  applied  to  the  construction  of  a  city 
hall  in  Philadelphia  and  the  remaining  two  thousand 
were  to  be  turned  over  to  Dickinson  College. '^^ 

Then  in  1791  the  State  granted  the  sum  of  $1,500 
for  the  immediate  necessities  of  the  College.^*  And, 
again,  four  years   later,  the  fathers  of  the   common- 

as  the  probable  amount.  See  also  Statutes-at-Large  of  Pa., 
Mitchell  &  Flanders,  Vol.  XII,  p.  221  ff  (1786). 

"The  lot  was  240x60  feet  and  was  located  on  the  north 
side  of  Pomfret  street  between  Hanover  and  Bedford  streets. 
It  had  been  granted  in  1773  by  the  proprietors,  Thomas  and 
Richard  Penn,  to  a  Board  of  Trustees  for  a  grammar  school, 
which  was  erected  thereon.  The  College  trustees  repaired 
and  made  improveiments  on  the  building.  The  title  to  the  lot 
and  building  was  now  vested  in  the  College  Board,  the  more 
readily  in  that  they  maintained  "a  flourishing  grammar 
school"  in  connection  with  the  College  and  so  fulfilled  the 
wishes  of  the  original  donors.  See  Statutes-at-Large  of 
Pennsylvania;  Mitchell  and  Flanders,  Vol.  XIII,  p.  132  ff 
(1788). 

"Statutes-at-Large  of  Pennsylvania,  Vol.  XIII,  p.  276  ff. 
This  lottery  was  widely  advertised.  See  American  Daily 
Advertiser  (Phila.)  for  Feb.  7,  1791;  etc.,  etc. 

"Statutes-at-Large  of  Pennsylvania;  Mitchell  and  Flan- 
ders; Vol.  XIV,  p.  123  ff  (1791). 


122  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

wealth  bestowed  $5,000  on  the  struggling  little  College. 
Of  this  amount  $2,000  were  to  be  used  to  wipe  out 
some  debts  that  had  accumulated.  The  other  $3,000 
were  to  be  added  to  the  permanent  endowment  of  the 
institution.  The  grant  was  made  on  condition  that  ten 
poor  boys  (if  so  many  apply)  be  taught  reading,  wri- 
ting and  arithmetic  gratis.  But  no  pupil  was  to  be 
allowed  to  remain  on  this  foundation  more  than  two 
years. ^^  In  1806  the  State  again  granted  $4,000  most 
of  which  was  spent  for  "philosophical"  apparatus.'" 

After  this  there  seems  to  have  been  no  state  aid 
until  the  period  1821-29,  when  the  Theological  Sem- 
inary of  the  German  Reformed  Church  was  conducted 
in  connection  with  the  College.  At  that  time  the  state 
granted  $10,000  per  annum  for  a  period  of  ten  years, 
and  required  an  annual  report  to  the  state  of  the  con- 
dition of  the  institution.  All  this  detail  goes  to  show 
how  heavily  the  infant  College  leaned  on  the  state ; 
how  close  was  the  relationship  between  this  Presby- 
terian school  in  its  early  years  and  the  state.  Testi- 
mony to  this  bond  can  also  be  adduced  from  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Charter,  from  the  oath  taken,  under  the 
Charter  by  every  trustee  to  be  loyal  to  the  Common- 
wealth, and  from  the  constant  reference  of  the  found- 

"  Statutes-at-Large  of  Pennsylvania;    Mitchell  and  Flan- 
ders;  Vol.  XV.  p.  282  (1795). 

"  C.  F.  Himes,  A  Sketch  of  Dickinson  College,  p.  50. 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  123 

ers  of  the  College  to  its  influence  on  the  future  of 
Pennsylvania." 

Whatever  the  amount  of  the  productive  funds  of 
the  "infant  seminary"  in  1783  was,  it  must  have  seemed 
sufficient  to  make  a  beginning.  President  Dickinson 
called  the  first  regular  annual  meeting  of  the  Board 
for  April  6,  1784.  Meanwhile  Dr.  Rush  was  preparing 
"Some  Thoughts  to  lay  before  the  Board  of  Trustees 
upon  the  subject  of  an  Education  proper  for  a  College 
in  a  new  republican  state. "^^  About  a  month  before 
the  time  set  for  the  meeting  he  wrote :  "The  time  ap- 
proaches big  with  the  fate  of  Dickinson  College.  .  .  . 
I  have  at  last  finished  my  essay  on  'A  mode  of  educa- 
tion proper  in  a  republic'  which  I  shall  request  the  lib- 
erty of  laying  before  the  Board  of  Trustees.  It  has 
cost  me  a  great  deal  of  severe  study.  Several  of  my 
friends  to  whom  I  have  read  it,  approve  of  my  ideas, 
and  conceive  more  highly  of  the  utility  of  our  College 
than  ever."  This  is  the  essay  that  stands  second  in 
the  volume  of  "Essays,  Literary,  Moral  and  Philo- 
sophical." 

What  the  effect  of  this  Essay,  (which  is  the  most 
important  of  Dr.  Rush's  educational  writings)  was  or 

"Compare  Crookes'  Dickinson  College:  The  History  of 
a  Hundred  Years,    An  Alumni  Oration. 

"Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  49.  Rush  to  Montgomery,  Nov. 
15,  1783. 


124  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

even  whether  it  was  read,  we  do  not  know.  We  learn, 
indeed,  that  Dr.  Rush  was  very  much  pleased  with  the 
outcome  of  the  meeting,  but  this  may  verv  probably 
have  been  occasioned  b}^  other  causes  than  the  recep- 
tion accorded  to  his  paper. 

The  important  task  of  electing  a  president^®  for  the 
College  was  accomplished  to  Dr.  Rush's  satisfaction. 
The  choice  fell  upon  the  Reverend  Dr.  Charles  Nisbet 
of  Montrose,  Scotland.  It  seems  that  Dr.  Rush  and 
Dr.  Nisbet  had  become  acquainted  in  Scotland,^^  and 
also  that  the  latter  had  been  considered  for  the  presi- 
dency of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  at  the  time  that 
Dr.  Witherspoon  was  selected  to  fill  that  vacancy. 

We  find  that  Dr.  Rush  made  some  proposal  to  Dr. 
Nisbet  with  respect  to  the  presidency  of  Dickinson 
College  as  early  as  November  or  December,  1783,  this 
being  at  least  four  months  before  his  election.''^  Even 
before  this  he  had  written  to  a  number  of  the  Trustees 
in  favor  of  this  Scotch  clergyman. ^^  His  correspond- 
ents were  favorably  impressed  with  the  reasons  given 

"The  title  was  not  "president",  however,  but  'The  Prin- 
cipal of  Dickinson  College".  See  Charter,  Vol.  XI,  Statute:-.  • 
at-Large  of  Pennsylvania. 

•"Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  37.  Letter  of  Nisbet  to  Rush., 
August  5,  1783. 

"  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  64.  Margaret  Watson  of  Mont- 
rose, Scotland,  to  Rush,  Dec.  8,  1783. 

«  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  53;  p.  59. 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  125 

ill  his  favor,  but  one  of  them  wisely  said:^^  **His  being 
a  Foreigner  would  admit  of  no  objection  but  is  a  Cir- 
cumstance for  some  reasons  more  desirable — but  we 
should  be  satisfied  that  we  are  capable  of  holding  up 
such  encouragement  as  would  invite  a  man  from 
thence  where  if  he  is  really  such  [as  you  have  said] 
he  will  have  the  greater  inducement  to  stay."  After 
thus  manufacturing  opinion  in  Dr.  Nisbet's  favor, 
Rush  wrote  to  Montgomery  /'"  ''I  find  Dr.  Nisbet 
[Rush  usually  misspells  it  Nesbit]  has  many  friends 
in  our  board.  When  we  meet  I  will  give  you  some 
secret  reasons  why  he  should  be  our  first  principal. 
The  President,  Mr.  Wilson,  Col.  McPherson,  and  Mr. 
McClay  are  all  in  favor  of  him."*^°  Just  what  the  secret 
reasons  were  is  matter  for  conjecture.  But  there  were 
a  number  of  reasons  not  secret.  He  was  a  man  of  repu- 
tation in  Scotland  and  of  great  erudition.  He  had  been 
openly  in  sympathy  with  the  colonies  in  their  struggle 
for  independence.  He  was  a  Presbyterian  minister,  a 
forceful  speaker,  and  it  was  even  hoped  that  he  might 
be  able  to  unite  the  two  wings  of  the  Presbyterian 
church.  The  schism  of  the  Presbyterians  in  the  forties, 
caused,  or  at  least  occasioned,  by  the  Tennents  and 

•"Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  54.  This  was  said  by  John 
King,  D.  D.,  who  became  president  of  the  Board  of  Trustees 
on  the  death  of  Dickinson  in  1808. 

"  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  57.    Feb.  17,  1784. 

"Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  57. 


126  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

Whitelield,  had  indeed  been  bridged  but  yet  the  "hate- 
ful prejudice"  was  still  alive. ^® 

The  minute  of  the  Board  which  records  the  election 
of  Dr.  Nisbet,  reads  as  follows  :^^  "At  a  meeting  of 
the  Trustees  of  Dickinson  College  at  Carlisle  on  the 
6th  day  of  April,  1784,  and  continued  by  adjournments 
— Agreeably  to  the  order  of  the  day  the  Board  pro- 
ceeded to  the  choice  of  a  Principal :  When  the  Rever- 
end Dr.  Charles  Nesbit  of  Montrose  in  Scotland  was 
unanimously  elected  Principal  of  Dickinson  College. 
Resolved :  That  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  sterling 
be  the  annual  salary  allowed  to  Dr.  Nesbit  if  he  ac- 
cepts the  place  of  Principal  of  the  College; 
Resolved :  That  his  salary  commence  on  the  day  of  his 
Embarkation ; 

Resolved :  That  he  have  a  house  for  the  accommoda- 
tion of  himself  and  Family  and  that  a  Bill  of  fifty 
pounds  sterling  as  a  gratuity  be  immediately  transmit- 
ted to  him  to  assist  in  defraying  the  expense  of  his 
passage  to  this  country. 

Resolved :  That  the  President  of  this  Board  be  re- 
quested to  transmit  a  copy  of  the  above  minute  with 
the  Bill  of  Exchange  and  a  letter  of  invitation  to  Dr. 
Nesbit  by  the  first  convenient  opportunity."  The  min- 
ute is  signed  by  "Will  Linn,  Sec'y." 

••Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  13;  p.  59. 
•"  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  65. 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  127 

When  Dr.  Nisbet  was  apprised  of  his  election,  he 
wavered  long  before  coming  to  a  final  decision.®* 
Meanwhile  he  kept  up  his  correspondence  with  Rush, 
although  it  was  largely  about  matters  other  than  the 
subject  in  which  they  were  both  interested.  iVbout 
this  time,  too.  Dr.  Ewing  of  the  University  and  Dr. 
Witherspoon  of  Princeton  advised  him  not  to  accept. ^^ 
Dr.  Ewing  in  particular  declared  that  the  College  at 
Carlisle  was  "a.  party  institution",  set  on  foot  by  the 
Episcopalians  in  revenge  for  the  loss  of  the  College  of 
Philadelphia ;  that  the  available  funds  of  the  College 
were  very  small,  estimating  them  at  £300;  that  the 
drudgery  of  teaching  at  Carlisle  would  be  unbearable 
to  one  of  Dr.  Nisbet's  training  and  instincts.  We  shall 
see  that  in  the  last  assertion  Dr.  Ewing  proved  himself 
a  true  prophet.  But  in  the  end  Dr.  Nisbet  resolved  to 
make  the  venture  in  spite  of  these  attempts  to  dissuade 
him  from  accepting.  It  was  in  August,  1784,  that  Dr. 
Rush  received  Nisbet's  acceptance  and  his  promise  to 
cross  the  Atlantic  the  following  spring.'^^ 

"Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  73:  p.  77. 

'''RUSH  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  88.  This  report  of  the  cor- 
respondence of  Drs.  Ewing  and  Witherspoon  with  Dr.  Nisbet 
is  based  entirely  on  Dr.  Rush's  report  of  a  letter  he  received 
from  Dr.  Nisbet.  The  report  is,  however,  so  circumstantial 
and  in  keeping  with  other  facts  that  we  know  that  there 
seems  to  be  no  reason  for  doubting  its  accuracy. 
"Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  87. 


128  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

But  before  he  embarked  a  curious  incident  oc- 
curred. The  political  situation  in  Pennsylvania  was 
rather  unstable  at  the  time,  and  the  opposition  was  in 
high  hopes  of  being  able  to  secure  a  majority  of  the 
seats  in  the  Assembly  and  overturning  the  party  in 
power  under  the  leadership  of  Dickinson,  then  Presi- 
dent of  the  State.  Mr.  Dickinson,  always  careful 
and  conservative  to  the  point  of  vacillation,  became 
alarmed  for  the  future  of  the  new  institution  and 
afraid  that  the  Charter  might  be  revoked.  The  expe- 
rience of  the  College  of  Philadelphia  in  1779  indeed 
gave  some  ground  for  this  fear.  Concerned  for  the 
future  of  Dr.  Nisbet,  who  was  about  to  resign  a  good 
living  and  to  cross  the  Atlantic  to  engage  in  a  new 
undertaking,  he  wrote^^  to  the  prospective  President 
that,  owing  to  a  change  in  political  affairs,  there  is 
danger  of  a  repeal  of  the  "law  establishing  a  college  at 
Carlisle,"  or  at  least  that  the  design  may  be  impeded ; 
and  that  he  feels  in  honor  bound  to  advise  him  to  give 
up  all  thoughts  of  coming  to  America  as  Principal, 
for  the  present,  at  least.  This  advice  seems  to  have 
been  given  on  Dickinson's  own  and  sole  responsibility 
and  certainly  without  the  knowledge  of  the  other 
Trustees.     It   is,   therefore,   safe   to   call   his   conduct 

"  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  94.  This  is  a  copy  only  of  th? 
letter  Dickinson  wrote  to  Nisbet.  but  it  purports  to  be  exact. 
The  letter  is  of  date  October  25,  1784. 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  129 

presumptuous,  but  there  are  not  sufficient  reasons  for 
the  very  "illiberal  reflections"  which  Rush  made  upon 
the  action. 

Rush  wrote:'-  "Whether  he  [Governor  Dickinson] 
purchased  the  vote  that  lately  made  him  President  of 
the  state  by  this  secret  act  of  treachery  to  the  last 
hopes  of  the  Republicans,  or  whether  he  wished  to 
annihilate  our  college  and  thereby  to  prevent  any  fu- 
ture draughts  being  made  upon  him  for  its  support, 
or  whether  he  is  under  Quaker  influence  as  to  the 
future  power  of  the  Presbyterians,  I  know  not,  but 
certain  it  is  he  is  become  the  most  formidable  enemy 
to  our  college  that  ever  we  have  yet  known."  The 
only  excuse  for  such  language,  if  it  be  an  excuse,  is 
that  it  was  spoken  in  the  sudden  heat  of  passion.  He 
proceeds :  *T  have  spoken  very  plainly  to  Mr.  Dickin- 
son, and  set  before  him  the  consequences  of  his  con- 
duct in  strong  terms.  I  have  told  him  that  he  has 
injured  not  only  the  Republican  party,  but  their  op- 
ponents, who,  bad  as  they  are  in  some  things,  are  in- 
capable of  the  base  action  he  has  suspected  them  of 
committing.  I  have  set  forth  the  disgrace  we  must 
incur  in  Scotland  and  the  operation  of  his  letter  upon 
the  reputation  of  the  trustees.  But  all  this  has  had 
no  effect  upon  him.  He  positively  refuses  to  contra- 
dict his  letter.    We  parted  with  his  saying  that  'it  be- 

"Rush  MSS,  Vol.  41.  p.  95.     November  13.  1784. 


130  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

came  us  to  act  with  prudence'.  I  replied  in  a  warm 
tone  that  'Prudence,  where  honor  was  concerned,  was 
a  rascally  virtue.'  "  Two  days  later  Rush  added^^  that 
Dickinson  had  at  last  agreed  to  write  to  Dr.  Nisbet, 
and  that  the  Trustees  residing  in  Philadelphia  would 
meet  to  disapprove  Dickinson's  advice  and  to  prepare 
a  letter  to  Dr.  Nisbet  assuring  him  that  "our  Charter 
and  his  support  are  equally  safe."  This  intelligence, 
if  the  language  were  strictly  construed,  might  not 
have  offered  much  comfort.  Rush  also  urged  the 
Trustees  living  at  Carlisle,  to  write  a  similar  letter, 
but  advised  that,  to  shield  Dickinson,  the  meeting 
should  not  be  public. 

There  is  a  copy  of  Dickinson's  retraction  among 
the  Rush  papers.  It  reads  as  follows  :^*  "Since  my  let- 
ter to  you  of  the  25th  of  last  month  the  general  as- 
sembly of  this  state  has  met  and  has  evidenced  such 
a  temper  of  conciliation  and  liberality,  as  to  present  a 
more  favorable  prospect  of  harmony  and  general  good 
in  public  measures,  than  was  exhibited  before  their 
session.  Many  of  the  friends  of  the  College  at  Carlisle 
are  fully  convinced  that  no  attempts  will  be  made 
against  that  establishment ;  or  that,  if  they  should  be,, 
that  they  will  be  unsuccessful. — I  must  confess  that 

"  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  95.    November  15,  1784. 
"Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41.  p.  98.     Copy  Dickinson  to  Nisbet, 
November  15.   1784. 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  131 

my  hopes  are  much  stronger  than  they  were  in  favor 
of  the  institution." 

"As  several  of  the  trustees  who  are  gentlemen  of 
the  strictest  integrity  and  distinguished  abilities  pro- 
pose writing  to  you  by  this  opportunity  I  am  perfectly 
convinced  that  you  may  intirely  [sic]  confide  in  the 
intelligence  they  may  transmit."  Dr.  Rush  said:^^  ''In 
conducting  this  business  to  the  present  (I  hope)  happy 
issue  I  have  experienced  degrees  of  anxiety  I  never 
felt  before." 

Dr.  Nisbet  arrived  in  Philadelphia  in  June,  1785, 
Rush  welcomed  him  and  introduced  him  to  his  friends 
who  were,  many  of  them,  among  the  most  influential 
in  the  state.  Franklin  was  then  President  of  the 
Executive  Council  of  the  state;  John  Dickinson  had 
just  relinquished  that  office.  William  Bingham  was 
noted  for  his  wealth  and  his  delightful  family  and 
social  life ;  James  Wilson,  for  his  legal  talent,  al- 
though his  greatest  work  was  still  to  be  accomplished. 
Naturally  Dr.  Rush  felt  himself  in  a  measure  respon- 
sible for  the  future  of  both  Dr.  Nisbet  himself  and  of 
Dickinson  College. 

That  he  recognized  the  need  of  advertising  the  new 
institution  is  well  shown  in  the  suggestions  he  gave 
to   John   Montgomery   for  Dr.    Nisbet's   reception   at 

"Rush  MSS.,  Vol.41,  p.  95. 


132  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

Carlisle. '^^  He  urged  that  an  address  of  welcome  should 
be  delivered,  that  the  Doctor  should  be  met  on  the 
way  and  conducted  into  the  town  by  as  many  of  the 
Trustees  and  citizens  as  could  be  collected,  and  that 
while  the  procession  marched  through  the  town  the 
courthouse  bell  should  be  rung.  The  news  of  these 
things,  he  said,  will  make  a  "clever  paragraph"  for  the 
Philadelphia  papers  and  perhaps  allure  some  students. 

Dr.  Nisbet  reached  Carlisle  on  the  Fourth  of  July, 
1785.  A  few  sentences  from  one  of  his  letters  will 
show  how  he  was  received. '^^.  "We  left  York,"  he  says, 
"on  Monday  the  4th,  breakfasted  at  the  Half-Way 
House,  and  were  met  by  the  light  horse  belonging  to 
Carlisle  at  Yellow-Breeches  Creek,  by  whom  we  were 
conducted  to  the  Boiling  Springs,  near  the  Iron 
Works.  Here  we  found  the  inhabitants  of  Carlisle 
assembled  to  celebrate  the  anniversary  of  the  Decla- 
ration of  Independence.  We  dined  in  the  open  air."  .  .  . 
There  was  an  address  of  welcome  and  a  response,  but 
he  tells  us  that  he  could  make  but  a  meagre  reply 
owing  to  the  strengfth  of  his  feelings,  "which  are  easily 
overpowered  by  anything  of  public  ceremony." 

Dr.  Rush  had  now  been  instrumental  in  bringing  a 

'•Rush  MSS..  Vol.  41,  p.  126.  Rush  to  Montgomery, 
June  8,  1785. 

"Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  136.  Nisbet  to  Rush,  July  18, 
1785. 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  133 

second  Scottish  educator  to  America,  but  he  soon 
learned  that  the  second  was  to  be  very  much  more 
troublesome  to  him  than  Dr.  Witherspoon  had  been. 
Within  two  weeks  after  his  arrival  on  the  scene,  where 
he  was  "to  end  his  days,"  Dr.  Nisbet  found  a  great 
deal  to  criticize  in  his  new  situation.  The  College  had 
been  opened  in  the  fall  of  1784.  Near  the  end  of 
August  of  that  year  there  were  ten  boys — prospective 
students — at  Carlisle  and  others  had  made  application 
to  come.  The  Trustees  resident  at  Carlisle  therefore 
wrote  to  Dr.  Rush  for  a  teacher  of  mathematics ;  and 
at  the  meeting  of  the  Board  in  September  the  appoint- 
of  a  teacher  of  geography,  mathematics  and  natural 
philosophy  at  a  salary  not  to  exceed  one  hundred  and 
thirty  pounds  a  year  was  authorized. '^^  Dr.  Rush  and 
Colonel  Montgomery  were  commissioned  to  make  the 
appointment  and  they  engaged  the  services  of  a  Mr. 
Ross.^^  The  boys  do  not  seem  to  have  been  graded 
properly  or  perhaps  at  all.  Dr.  Nisbet  at  once  pointed 
out  that  nothing  could  be  done  with  them  until  the 
higher  classes  were  separated  from  the  lower;  and 
that  Mr.  Ross  had  three  men's  work  to  do. 

"  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  90.  Armstrong  to  Rush,  Aug. 
30,  1784,  and  p.  9L     Duncan  to  Rush,  October  1,  1784. 

"  Professor  Ross  resigned  1792  to  go  to  another  infant 
institution,  Franklin  College,  Lancaster,  Pa.  Himes,  A 
Sketch  of  Dickinson  College.  He  became  known  later  as  the 
author  of  a  Latin  Grammar. 


134  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

Nisbet  learned,  too,  that  the  available  funds  of  the 
College  were  extremely  low,  much  lower  apparently 
than  he  had  been  led  to  believe  from  Rush's  enthusi- 
asm. He  speaks  also®°  of  **the  strange  proposal  you 
[Dr.  Rush]  made  me  soon  after  my  landing,  to  give 
up  my  bargain  with  the  Trustees."  From  the  context 
it  is  clear  that  the  proposal  was  about  his  salary.  He 
felt  that  he  was  being  neglected  by  Rush.  When  the 
latter  visited  at  Carlisle  and  stayed  for  some  time  with 
Colonel  Montgomery  without  calling  on  Dr.  Nisbet, 
he  received  the  following  note: 

"Tomb  of  Dickinson's  College,  August   10,   1785." 

"Dear  Sir :  And  is  this  thy  Kindness  to  thy  Friend? 
To  have  been  two  whole  [word  omitted,  days?]  in  the 
Place,  without  favouring  [me?]  with  a  single  mo- 
ment's Tete-a-tete?  These  [things?]  ought  not  so  to 
be.  If  I  were  in  health,  I  should  have  waited  on  you 
by  Night  or  by  Day  to  have  snatched  every  moment 
you  could  spare.  Please  let  me  know  by  the  Bearer, 
if  or  when  I  am  to  be  favoured  with  a  few  minutes 
conference  before  you  leave  the  place." 

"I  am.  Dear  Sir"  . 

"Your  much  injured" 

"Chas.  Nisbet." 

"Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42,  p.  8.  Nisbet  to  Rush,  March  15, 
1786. 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  135 

The  relations  between  the  two  men  grew  worse 
before  they  grew  better.  For  a  time  all  correspond- 
ence between  them  ceased.  Rush  once  declared  that 
he  would  receive  no  communication  from  the  Princi- 
pal that  had  not  first  been  shown  to  one  of  the  Trus- 
tees at  Carlisle. ^^ 

Meanwhile  there  was  a  good  deal  in  their  sur- 
roundings that  did  not  please  Dr.  Nisbet  and  his  fam- 
ily. They  had  landed  in  the  midst  of  an  American 
summer  and  the  excessive  heat  greatly  oppressed 
them.  The  family  very  soon  planned  to  return  to  Scot- 
land, it  seems,  and  before  the  summer  was  over,  Dr. 
Nisbet  himself  was  anxious  to  accompany  them.  To 
make  matters  worse,  he  suffered  with  malaria  and 
fever,  as  a  result  of  the  unhealthy  location  of  his  resi- 
dence. Members  of  his  family,  too,  were  ill,  and  he 
himself  at  times  despaired  of  his  life.  His  letters  to 
Rush  were  filled  with  complaints  about  everybody  and 
everything;  and  apparently  Rush  was  not  very  sym- 
pathetic. But  to  judge  safely,  one  should  have  his 
replies  to  Nisbet,  which  are  not  preserved.  A  good 
deal  of  information  can  be  gleaned  from  Nisbet's  let- 
ters to  Rush  and  from  various  letters  by  Rush  to  other 
members  of  the  Board  of  Trustees. ^^    Dr.  Rush  did, 

''Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42,  p.  22.  Rush  to  Montgomery,  Aug. 
19,  1786. 

*^  This  correspondence  is  found  in  the  later  pages  of  Vol. 
41  of  the  Rush  Manuscripts. 


136  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

however,  urge  that  the  Board  should  provide  other 
quarters  for  the  principal's  family.  But  nothing  was 
done,  as  suitable  houses  in  Carlisle  were  scarce.^^ 

In  the  fall,  Dr.  Nisbet  resigned.  The  formal  resig- 
nation is  dated  October  18,  1785,  but  the  arrangements 
for  his  leaving  had  been  begun  about  a  month  before.** 
As  early  as  September  4th,  he  wrote  to  Rush,  that  he 
is  determined  to  return  to  Scotland  because  his  health 
is  wrecked  and  he  will  not  **be  able  to  be  of  any  service 
or  even  to  exist  in  America."  About  this  time  he  tried 
to  get  back  his  former  situation  as  pastor  at  Montrose. 
He  indignantly  declares  that  he  had  not  expected  to 
be  insulted  by  the  Trustees  by  being  told  that  they 
would  not  pay  his  passage  home.  "Sir,"  he  wrote, 
**I  have  the  magnanimity,  weak  as  I  am,  not  to  ask  it 
if  I  could  do  without  it.  But  Necessity  obliges  me 
and  you  owe  it  to  your  own  character  and  to  the  char- 
acter of  America,  even  not  to  harry  us  away  as  felons, 
or  even  as  unserviceable  dogs,  when  we  have  lost  all 
our  means  of  subsistence  in  your  service."  And  he 
declares  that  it  is  highly  improper  for  the  "most  learn- 
ed man  in  America"  to  display  his  learning  to  the 
affront  of  a  poor  old  clergyman.*"^ 

"  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42,  p.  9. 

*^  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  157  and  preceding  pages. 
''Rush   MSS..  Vol.  41,  p.  145.     Nisbet  to  Rush,  Sept.  4, 
1785. 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  137 

The  Board  accepted  Dr.  Nisbet's  resignation,  and 
agreed  to  pay  his  traveling  expenses  to  Scotland.  A 
committee  was  appointed  to  pay  his  way  to  Phila- 
delphia, and  another,  composed  of  Trustees  living  in 
Philadelphia,  to  pay  his  passage  across  the  Atlantic. 
From  the  same  letter  we  learn  that  Dr.  Davidson  was 
appointed  Principal  pro  tempore.^^  For  some  unex- 
plained reason  the  ship  on  which  Dr.  Nisbet  had  in- 
tended to  sail  did  not  arrive  when  due,  and,  with  the 
advent  of  cooler  weather,  his  health  improved.    By  the 

'^Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  159.  Armstrong  to  Rush,  Oct. 
22,  1785.  Dr.  Robert  Davidson  was  a  professor  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  when  Dickinson  College 
was  incorporated.  Col.  Montgomery  suggested  his  appoint- 
me'nt  to  a  professorship  at  Carlisle,  and  Dr.  Rush  readily 
acceded,  saying  he  would  make  "an  excellent  professor".  He 
was  appointed  in  April,  1784.  During  the  sickness  and  inter- 
regnum of  Dr.  Nisbet  he  was  president  pro  tempore  of  the 
College  and  acquitted  himself  well.  Col.  Montgomery  was 
anxious  to  have  him  elected  as  principal,  instead  of  Dr.  Nis- 
bet, after  the  latter's  resignation  in  the  fall  of  1785.  Rush, 
too,  seems  to  have  been  a  friend  of  Dr.  Davidson's  and  re- 
peatedly commends  his  loyalty  to  the  College.  But  there 
was  opposition  in  the  Board,  probably  from  General  Arm- 
strong and  his  adherents,  to  his  elevation  to  the  "Principal- 
ship".  After  Dr.  Nisbet's  death,  twenty  years  later,  he  again 
became  principal  pro  tempore  until  a  permament  successor 
was  chosen.  General  Armstrong,  too,  had  passed  away  in 
the  mean  time  and  he  could  now  have  had  the  presidency. 
But  he  declined,  as  he  preferred  to  retain  the  pastorate 
of  the  Presbyterian  church  at  Carlisle,  to  which  he  had  been 
chosen. 


138  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

end  of  November  he  had  so  far  recovered  that  he 
wished  to  stay,  and  with  childish  evasions  he  tried  to 
explain  away  the  plain  meaning  -of  his  former  state- 
ments.^^ It  was  freely  declared  by  various  members 
of  the  Board — with  what  justice  is  hard  to  say — that 
his  change  of  front  was  due  not  so  much  to  the  im- 
provement of  his  health  as  to  the  information  that 
some  of  the  Trustees  had  been  successful  in  collecting 
money  and  that  the  vacancy  in  the  parish  at  Montrose 
had  been  filled. 

When  he  learned  that  Dr.  Nisbet  had  agreed  to 
stay,  Rush  wrote  :*^  "If  he  concludes  to  stay  I  take  it 
for  granted  he  will  be  re-elected.  We  cannot  do  other- 
wise without  incurring  the  folly  of  instability  and 
thereby  of  resembling  himself.  I  think  as  we  have  a 
new  bargain  to  make,  we  ought  to  offer  him  only 
£300  a  year  currency,  until  the  college  and  his  repu- 
tation recover  from  the  blow  they  have  both  re- 
ceived by  his  late  conduct.  When  I  urge  the  measure 
of  re-electing  him,  you  cannot  suppose  I  can  feel  much 
regard  for  him  or  his  family.  He  has  treated  me 
cruelly  and  his  son  still  worse — but  I  freely  forgive 
them  both — and  if  they  mend  their  manners  and  if  the 

"Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42,  p.  8.     Nisbet  to  Rush,  March  15, 
1786. 

^'Rush    MSS..   Vol.   41.   p.    165.      Rush    to    Montgomery, 
Nov.  28.  1785. 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  139 

Doctor  will  do  his  duty  and  give  over  whining  and 
complaining  I  shall  love  and  serve  him  as  well  as  if 
nothing  had  happened."  John  King,  another  Trustee, 
wrote  in  a  similar  vein.^^  After  mentioning  Dr.  Nis- 
bet's  resignation  he  reported  that  General  Armstrong 
is  greatly  in  favor  of  ofitering  the  office  to  him  again ; 
said  he  was  sorry  that  the  ship  did  not  come  when  the 
Doctor  was  in  the  mood  for  going ;  and  declared  that 
he  feared  Nisbet  wanted  to  stay  only  because  the 
Assembly  seemed  in  a  mood  to  vote  lands^^  and  be- 
cause Colonel  Montgomery  had  succeeded  with  his 
collections  at  Baltimore.  Dickinson  wrote  against 
considering  Dr.  Nisbet's  reinstatement  under  any  cir- 
cumstances. With  his  characteristic  caution,  he  avoid- 
ed mentioning  any  names,  but  wrote  :®^  "I  am  not  at 
all  surprised,  that  the  person  you  mention  'wavers 
about  returning',  but  am  beyond  all  expression  sur- 
prised that  any  of  the  concerned  should  think  of  re- 
taining him,  let  the  terms  be  ever  so  much  lowered, 
after  being  acquainted  with  the  circumstances  you 
communicated  to  me."^^ 

"  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  167.    King  to  Rush,  Dec.  6.  1785. 

^  It  was  about  this  time  that  the  Assembly  made  its  first 
appropriation  to  Dickinson  College.     See  p.  120. 

•'Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  4L  p.  168.  Dickinson  to  Rush.  Dec. 
7.  1785. 

"  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  what  these  "circum- 
stances" were.     Rush  accused   Nisbet  —  and   Nisbet   denied 


140  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

However,  the  majority  of  the  Trustees  were  in 
favor  of  reinstatement.  The  matter  of  the  salary  was 
very  unwisely  left  indefinite.  Meanwhile  there  was  a 
great  deal  of  unamiable  correspondence  between  Nis- 
bet  and  Rush.  The  truth  is  that  they  both  had  marked 
infirmities  of  temper.  Rush  at  one  time  threatened 
to  resign  from  the  Board  unless  the  Trustees  should 
prevail  on  Dr.  Nisbet  to  change  his  conduct  both  with 
regard  to  himself  personally  and  to  the  College. ^^  The 
threat  was  effective  with  General  Armstrong  in  par- 
ticular, who  early  became  Dr.  Nisbet's  mainstay  on 
the  Board,  and  Rush  did  not  resign.^* 

And  so,  with  varying  degrees  of  hostility  between 
Rush  and  Nisbet,  broken  by  several  partially  success- 
ful attempts  on  the  part  of  the  two  men  and  of  their 
friends  to  heal  the  breach,  they  retained  their  respec- 
tive positions.  Dr.  Nisbet  died  in  1804  as  President  of 
Dickinson    College   after   a   service   of   about   twenty 

the  accusation  —  of  making,  to  the  enemies  of  the  college 
in  Philadelphia,  statements  derogatory  to  the  institution. 
This  was  probably  well-founded.  Nisbet  was  very  bitter 
against  the  Trustees  during  a  large  part  of  his  term  as 
president;  and  the  school  at  first  certainly  was  a  "poor  affair", 
to  quote  Nisbet,  as  compared  with  his  standards. 

•*  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42,  p.  26.  Rush  to  Montgomery, 
Sept.  13,  1786. 

"Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42.  p.  29.  Rush  to  Montgomery, 
Oct.  12,  1786. 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  141 

years,  and  Dr.  Rush  at  his  death,  nine  years  later,  was 
still  a  member  of  its  Board  of  Trustees. 

It  is  easy  at  this  distance  for  the  "plain  man,  in  a 
cool  moment"  to  see  why  they  differed.  In  the  first 
place,  their  views  of  life  were  different.  Although  Dr. 
Nisbet  had  approved  the  Revolution,  that  approval 
was  given  from  a  distance  to  a  theoretical  revolution 
worked  out  on  paper.  He  was  at  heart  a  conservative, 
and  when  he  came  into  touch  with  events  in  the  new 
democracy,  and  saw  the  rancor  and  party  strife,  the 
wire-pulling  and  the  playing  for  position,  he  would 
have  none  of  it.  Rush,  too,  may  have  deplored  this 
atmosphere,  but  he  had  been  raised  in  it  and  had  be- 
come accustomed  to  it.  Rush,  in  his  enthusiasm,  had 
failed  to  see  the  privations  in  store  for  a  man  with  an 
established  position,  in  going  to  a  raw  country.  No 
doubt  he  had  in  his  mind's  eye  the  career  of  Wither- 
spoon,  signer,  patriot,  statesman.  When  he  succeeded 
in  undeceiving  himself,  he  went  too  far  and  said,  "Poor 
College;"  "we  are  unfortunate  in  our  principal."  Rush 
was  lacking  in  sympathy  for  other  men's  points  of 
view.  And  Nisbet  was  not  fitted  to  deal  with  frontiers- 
men. In  education  and  professional  instincts  he  was 
at  least  a  century  in  advance  of  the  times  in  America. 
The  result  was  that  he  was  not  appreciated  for  what 
he  was  but  was  decried  for  not  being  what  he  was  not. 
Dickinson  College  at  that  day  needed  a  President  with 


142  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

a  modicum  of  education,  but  a  persuasive  speaker  and 
a  money  gatherer.  Nisbet  desired  a  quiet  retreat  with 
books,  a  secure  position  and  salary,  and  students  who 
came  without  urging,  to  be  instructed.  Of  course  he 
was  disappointed,  and  by  the  time  he  became  adjusted, 
his  hfe  was  nearly  spent.^^ 

When  Dr.  Nisbet  took  up  his  duties  as  Principal 
of  Dickinson  College  (and  for  ten  years  thereafter) 
there  was  no  rigid  classification  of  the  students  on  the 
basis  of  the  amount  of  collegiate  work  done  by  each. 
There  were  no  freshmen,  sophomores,  juniors,  seniors. 
No  definite  requirements  for  graduation  had  been  laid 
down.  There  was  no  course  of  study ;  and  no  pre- 
requisites had  to  be  met  before  a  more  advanced 
subject  could  be  begun.  The  boys  entered  irregularly 
through  the  year,  and  the  progress  of  the  more  ad- 
vanced students  was  retarded  by  the  presence  among 
them  of  newcomers  who  required  the  most  elementary 
treatment  of  the  subjects  under  discussion.  Other 
difficulties  impeded  progress.  The  College  classes,  for 
want  of  room,  frequently  had  to  meet  in  a  corner  of 

'"There  is  a  great  deal  of  material  on  the  relations  be- 
tween Drs.  Rush  and  Nisbet  in  the  Rush  Collection  at  the 
Ridgway  Library.  The  reader  will  no  doubt  be  thankful  that 
it  has  been  omitted;  so  much,  it  was,  however,  thought  neces- 
sary to  reproduce  because  it  shows  some  of  the  internal 
difficulties  in  the  management  of  the  College  and  because  of 
biographical  requirements. 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  143 

the  grammar  school. ®®  There  was  no  librarian  and  the 
books  were  being  carried  away.  The  location  of  the 
College  in  a  frontier  village,  without  a  single  book- 
store, was  an  inconvenience,  made  more  serious  by  the 
delay  and  expense  of  ordering  and  carrying  books 
from  Philadelphia. 

The  Faculty  at  that  time  consisted  of  three  men, 
Mr.  James  Ross,  who  had  been  teaching  at  Carlisle 
now  for  over  a  year,  had  charge  of  the  preparatory 
students  in  the  grammar  school.  These  in  November, 
1786,  numbered  forty-one.  Dr.  Robert  Davidson,  a 
Presbyterian  minister,  and  professor  of  the  classical 
languages  at  the  University,  was  engaged  to  teach  the 
same  subjects  in  the  College.  He  entered  on  his  du- 
ties in  1785.  But  he  also  taught  other  very  much  more 
elementary  matters.  For  example,  he  was  the  author 
of  one  of  those  rhyming  geographies,  once  so  popular, 
but  which  a  deserved  neglect  has  long  since  overtaken. 
He  is  said  to  have  been  extremely  vain  of  this  produc- 
tion written  in  question  and  answer  form,  and  in  which 
the  geographical  rhymes  were  introduced  by  a  rhymed 
acrostic  on  his  own  name. 

"Round  the  globe  now  to  rove  and  its  surface  survey, 

Oh,  youth  of  America,  hasten  away ; 

Bid  adieu  for  awhile  to  the  toys  you  desire, 

*«Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  174;  Vol.  42,  p.  9.     Letters  by 
Nisbet. 


144  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

Earth's  beauties  to  view,  and  its  wonders  admire ; 
Refuse  not  instruction,  improve  well  your  time ; 
They  are  happy  in  age  who  are  wise  in  their  prime." 

The  reader  will  be  spared  the  rest  of  this  doggerel, 
which  runs  for  eight  lines  more^^  (in  order  to  complete 
the  Doctor's  surname).  The  contents  of  this  book — 
acrostic  and  all — were  committed  to  memory  b}^  the 
author's  charges.  The  third  and  last  member  of  the 
Faculty  at  the  beginning  was  Dr.  Nisbet  himself,  who 
read  lectures  on  logic,  metaphysics,  and  moral  philos- 
ophy, to  which  he  premised  a  short  account  of  the 
classics,  of  the  history  of  philosophy  and  of  criticism. 
He  wrote :  "I  sometimes  explain  a  classic  critically  in 
the  beginning  [of  the  hour]  before  the  class  is  fully 
assembled. "^^  All  this  to  students  of  the  most  various 

"Samuel  Tyler,  Memoir  of  Roger  Brooke  Taney,  LL.D., 
Baltimore,  John  Murphy  &  Co.,  1872,  pp.  659  ff.  Chief  Justice 
Taney  wrote  an  autobiography  covering  his  early  career  and 
including  his  college  life.  He  graduated  from  Dickinson 
College  in  1795  after  a  residence  of  three  years.  His  ac- 
count of  the  College,  while  interesting,  has  to  be  used  with 
care,  for  it  was  written  from  memory,  and  about  sixty  years 
after  graduation.  He  is  wide  of  the  mark,  for  example,  when 
he  says  that  his  class  at  graduation  numbered  ''twenty  or 
thirty"  (p.  47).  And  there  are  other  evidences  of  an  en- 
feebled memory. 

"This  and  the  following  quotation  are  from  a  letter  by 
Dr.  Nisbet  to  Judge  Allison,  Pittsburgh,  1792.  Quoted  by 
Crookes,  "Dickinson  College:  The  History  of  a  Hundred 
Years." 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  145 

stages  of  training,  indiscriminately.  As  late  as  1792,  he 
said :  *' We  have  a  sort  of  four  classes,  though  as  most 
of  our  students  are  at  their  own  disposal,  they  attend 
several  at  the  same  time.  You  may  be  sure  our  lec- 
tures are  very  imperfect,  for  we  are  yet  in  the  day  of 
small  things.  I  have  only  mentioned  this  summary 
for  your  own  private  satisfaction  as  I  would  not  wish 
it  to  be  known  in  Scotland  what  poor  things  we  are 
doing  in  America."  In  1796,  however,  the  Faculty 
organized  the  student  body  into  three  classes  calling 
them  freshmen,  junior  and  senior.^^  But  the  number 
of  students — never  large — declined,  and  two  years  la- 
ter the  plan  was  again  abandoned.  Not  only  so,  but  it 
was  decided  to  grant  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts 
at  the  end  of  a  single  year's  college  work.  This  plan 
was  now  followed  for  three  years  in  succession,  in 
1799,  1800  and  1801.  The  authority  for  this  statement 
is  in  a  letter  by  Dr.  Nisbet  to  Dr.  Rush,  which  must  be 
reproduced  in  part  for  the  light  it  throws  upon  condi- 
tions in  the  College  at  this  time.  "The  teacher  of  the 
grammar  school,"  says  Dr.  Nisbet/°°  "as  well  as  Dr. 

••  C.  F.  Himes,  A  Sketch  of  Dickinson  College,  p.  43. 

""This  letter  (Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42.  p.  95)  was  written 
Nov.  12,  1803.  While  Nisbet  had  a  personal  pecuniary  in- 
terest in  the  representation  he  makes,  yet  the  truth  of  the 
matter,  as  far  as  the  shortened  course  is  concerned,  must  have 
been  known  to  Dr.  Rush  and  must,  therefore,  have  been 
substantially  as  stated  above. 


146  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

Davidson  and  Mr.  McCormick  had  been  obliged  to 
vote  for  this  Restriction,  [of  the  course  of  study]  on  a 
Combination  of  the  Students  —  encouraged  by  the 
Trustees — which  took  place  on  the  7th  of  Nov.,  1798. 
On  that  Day,  having  examined  a  Class  of  Students 
newly  entered,  I  went  to  College  to  begin  my  Lessons 
but  no  students  attended,  and  Mr.  Thomson  who  was 
in  the  secret,  told  me  that  I  might  have  a  conference 
with  the  students  at  two  o'clock,  but  that  they  had 
unanimously  agreed  that  they  would  leave  college 
unless  the  time  of  study  was  restricted  to  one  year. 
On  this  I  wrote  to  Mr.  Montgomery,  President  (pro 
tem.)  of  the  Trustees,  to  call  a  meeting,  to  support 
their  authority  against  the  Combination  of  students  as 
the  Trustees  had  a  little  before  declared  that  every 
student  should  enter  as  a  freshman  and  should  rank 
the  following  year  as  a  junior  and  the  following  year 
as  a  senior  having  borne  these  appellations  respective- 
ly for  a  year  each.  But  now  it  was  determined  that 
they  should  be  freshmen,  seniors  and  juniors  at  once 
and  complete  all  their  studies  in  one  year.  Mr.  Mont- 
gomery told  me  that  the  matter  was  referred  to  the 
faculty  and  on  meeting  with  them  I  found  that  the 
Trustees  had  taken  their  measures  so  effectively  that 
all  my  colleagues  voted  for  the  yearling  system.  It 
was  truly  a  Wonder  that  any  Seminary  could  exist, 
after  such  a  Degradation  for  in  the  years  1799,  1800. 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  147 

and  1801  there  were  yearling  graduates  and  yearly 
Commencements.  The  Trustees  indeed  repealed  their 
favorite  Act  for  yearly  Commencements  but  they  did 
it  privately  and  I  only  learned  of  the  repeal  from  a 
Confidante  of  the  Trustees.  We  took  the  liberty  of  de- 
taining those  students  who  had  entered  in  Nov.  1801 
till  Sept.  1803  when  we  had  our  last^^^  Commence- 
ment." It  was  not  until  1814  and  under  Dr.  Nisbet's 
successor  that  a  full  four-year  course  was  established^*^^ 
and  maintained. 

That  the  relations  between  the  Board  of  Trustees 
and  the  President  of  the  College  were  strained  at  the 
time  when  the  above  letter  was  written,  is  evident. 
The  trouble  originated,  as  we  have  seen,  soon  after 
Dr.  Nisbet's  arrival  and  was  never  healed,  to  the  day 
of  his  death.  In  1792  he  wrote,^°^  'T  know  nothing  of 
their  [the  Trustees']  doings,  except  what  I  learn  from 
the  newspapers,  as  they  are  too  great  men  to  let  me 
know  anything  of  what  they  have  done,  or  intend  to 
do,"  and  so  forth.  A  portion  of  this  difference  of 
opinion  related  to  the  internal  management  of  the 
College,  and  particularly  to  the  matter  of  discipline, 
and  seems  to  have  originated  from  a  defect  of  the 

"^The  date  of  this  letter,  Nov.  12,  1803,  is  given  in  the 
preceding  note. 

^"^  C.  F,  Himes,  A  Sketch  of  Dickinson  College,  p.  43. 

''''Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42,  p.  68.  Nisbet  to  Rush,  Dec.  26, 
1792. 


148  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

Charter,  which  gave  to  the  Board  and  the  Principal 
jointly  the  power  to  regulate  the  conduct  of  the  stu- 
dents.^°*  The  result  was  that  the  interference  of  the 
Trustees  with  the  discipline  of  the  school  soon  became 
chronic  and  eventually  ruined  its  usefulness.  The 
Board  had,  in  August,  1785,  adopted  a  "Plan  of  Edu- 
cation" which  made  provision  for  a  sort  of  Faculty 
Court  to  try  student  offenses.  Even  the  penalties  to 
be  inflicted — mostly  in  the  form  of  fines  to  be  paid  in 
money — were  specified.  The  blame  for  this  legisla- 
tion, or  at  least  for  its  origin,  seems  to  lie  on  the 
shoulders  of  Dr.  Rush.^^-^  He  had  the  foolish  notion 
that  a  school  of  boys  ranging  in  age  from  fifteen  to 
eighteen  years  could  be  maintained  as  a  pure  democ- 
racy. Dr.  Nisbet  constantly  insisted  that  the  main- 
tenance of  discipline  was  a  function  of  the  teacher. 
Schools,  he  said,  cannot  be  noiseless  and  the  teacher 
alone  should  have  the  right  (as  he  alone  is  in  a  position 
to  judge)  to  decide  whether  the  noise  is  excessive  or 
unnecessary.  Furthermore,  the  Faculty  has  not  the 
time  to  try  petty  causes  and  to  deliberate  gravely  upon 
them.    But  all  his   representations  went  unheeded. ^°* 

"*  C.  F.  Himes,  A  Sketch  of  Dickinson  College,  p.  51. 

'"•  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42.  p.  33.  Leiter  from  Rush  to  the 
Trustees,  October  21.  1786:  Vol.  41,  p.  140.  dated  August  20, 
1785. 

"^  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42,  p.  36.     President's  Report  to  the 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  149 

A  second  occasion  for  dispute  between  Dr.  Nisbet 
and  the  Board  was  furnished  by  the  method  of  impart- 
ing instruction  employed  in  the  College.  What  this 
method  was  is  well  told  by  Chief-Justice  Taney.  Speak- 
ing of  Dr.  Nisbet  he  says,^^'  "His  mode  of  instruction 
was  by  lectures  written  out  and  read  to  the  class  slow- 
ly, so  that  we  might  write  it  down ;  yet  it  required  a 
pretty  gOod  penman  and  fixed  attention  to  keep  up 
with  him ;  and  with  all  my  efforts,  I  was  sensible 
that  his  idea  was  not  always  expressed  with  perfect 
accuracy  in  my  copy.  But  it  was  always  sufficiently 
full  to  enable  me  to  recall  the  substance  of  what  he 
had  said,  when,  in  order  to  impress  it  upon  my  mind, 
I  read  it  over."  The  Trustees  repeatedly  recommended 
by  appropriate  resolutions  that  this  lecture-method  be 
modified  by  the  introduction  of  frequent  exercises  and 
recitations,  but  without  effect.  Remembering  the 
youthfulness  of  the  "college  man"  of  that  day — Taney 
was  only  eighteen  at  graduation — we  may  be  sure  that 
the  contention  of  the  Trustees  embodied  the  better 
pedagogy. 

Both  the  Trustees  and  the  students  objected  not 

Board  of  Trustees,  Nov.  15,  1786;  also  p.  87,  Sept.  15,  1801, 
Montgomery  to  Rush. 

"^Samuel  Tyler,  Memoir  of  Roger  Brooke  Taney,  pp.  39, 
40.  An  account  of  this  matter  based,  however,  on  the  pre- 
ceding is  also  given  in  C.  F.  Himes,  A  Sketch  of  Dickinson 
College,  p.  43. 


150  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

only  to  the  method,  but  also  to  some  of  the  matter 
taught  in  the  College.  Although  the  President  was 
reported  to  be  a  Whig^°^  and  to  have  suffered  in  Scot- 
land for  his  sympathy  with  the  Americans  in  the  Revo- 
lution,^°^  yet  when  he  came  to  see  Democracy  at  close 
range,  it  did  not  seem  so  attractive.  As  we  have  al- 
ready seen,  he  was  a  man  of  the  study,  not  a  man  for 
the  frontier.  He  was,  moreover,  strongly  impressed 
with  his  own  importance  and  not  always  tactful  in 
expressing  his  ideas.  In  the  very  first  Commencement 
address  he  delivered,  his  comparisons  between  Scot- 
land and  America  as  to  the  learning,  honor,  justice  and 
public  faith  of  the  two  countries  were  very  unfavor- 
able to  the  United  States.  And  his  remarks  about 
some  of  the  Trustees,  and  Rush  in  particular,  can  be 
regarded  as  nothing  less  than  grossly  insulting,  if  they 
were  correctly  reported. ^^°  His  political  ideals  were 
embodied  most  nearly  in  America  by  the  Federalists 
and  he  strongly  championed  the  administration  of 
Adams.  Taney  says:^"  "He  had  no  faith  in  our 
institutions,  and  did  not  believe  in  their  stability, 
or  in  their  capacity  to  protect  the  rights  of  person 
or  property  against  the  impulses  of  popular  passion, 


1U8 

109 


Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  127. 

On  conditions  at  the  College,  see  a  long  letter  by  Xis- 
bet  to  Rush,  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42,  pp.  174-176. 
"»  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42,  p.  44. 
"I  Samuel  Tyler,  Memoir  of  Roger  Brooke  Taney  p.  41. 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  151 

which  combinations  of  designing  men  might  con- 
tinue to  excite.  These  opinions  were  monstrous 
heresies  in  our  eyes.  But  we  heard  them  with  good 
humor,  and  without  offending  him  by  any  mark  of 
disapprobation  in  his  presence.  We  supposed  they 
were  the  necessary  consequence  of  his  birth  and  edu- 
cation in  Scotland.  Yet  many,  I  beheve  a  majority 
of  the  class,  would  not  write  down  those  portions  of 
his  lectures;  and,  if  the  opinions  had  been  expressed 
by  any  other  professor,  the  class  would  probably  have 
openly  rebelled."  Rush  also  said.  Dr.  Nisbet's  politics 
hurt  the  College  in  which  all  reference  to  partisan  mat- 
ters should  have  been  avoided;"^  and  again,  'T  la- 
ment, deeply  lament  the  declining  state  of  our  col- 
lege. .  .  .  Nothing  can  be  done  to  retrieve  its  character 
while  high-toned  federal  politics  are  taught  in  it." 

In  an  account  of  the  beginnings  of  Dickinson  Col- 
lege some  mention  should  be  made  of  the  early  homes 
of  the  institution.  But  the  data  are  very  scanty  and 
sometimes  contradictory.  The  school  was  opened  first 
in  what  was  known  as  the  "public  buildings".  Just 
what  these  were,  it  is  difficult  to  determine,  but  the 
barracks  constructed  in  1777  by  some  of  the  Hessian 
prisoners  taken  at  Trenton,  are  probably  meant.  Per- 
mission to  use  these  for  college  purposes  was  obtained 

"'Rush    MSS.,    Vol.   42,    p.    11.      Rush    to    Montgomery, 
June  21,  1799. 


152  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

from  the  federal  government  through  the  agency  of 
Dr.  Rush.^^^  But  as  the  buildings  were  near  a  marsh 
which  made  the  location  an  unhealthy  one  and  were 
in  other  ways  unsuitable,  the  College  was  soon  re- 
moved^^*  at  the  instance  of  Rush,  to  a  small  building 
of  four  rooms  at  the  corner  of  Bedford  Street  and 
Liberty  Alley,  and  this  continued  to  be  its  home  for 
twenty  years.  "The  building  used,"  says  Taney,^'" 
"was  a  small  and  shabby  one,  fronting  a  dirty  alley, 
but  with  a  large  open  lot  in  the  rear,  where  we  often 
amused  ourselves  with  playing  bandy." 

As  early  as  1785  Rush  had  recommended^^^  the 
erection  of  a  building  for  the  College  "100  by  60  feet, 
with  a  hall  and  six  rooms  in  it  at  the  west  end  of  the 
town."  He  suggested  that  contributions  in  materials 
and  labor  might  be  secured  from  the  citizens,  thus 

"»Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  108;  p.  110;  p.  112.  Richard 
Henry  Lee  to  Rush;  p.  Ill,  James  McHenry  to  Rush;  p.  117, 
John  Jay  to  Rush.  All  these  men  were  personally  acquaint- 
ed with  Dr.  Rush  and  McHenry,  War  Secretary  under  Wash- 
ington, had  been  his  pupil  in  the  Medical  school. 

"*  This  matter  of  the  earliest  location  of  the  college  is 
hard  to  make  out.  Perhaps  it  was  only  that  Dr.  Nisbet's 
family  were  quartered  in  the  public  buildings  and  that  the 
college  from  the  first  was  located  on  Bedford  street.  See 
also  in  this  connection  Statutes-at-Large  of  Pennsylvania, 
/ol.  XTIT,  p.  132  fi. 

"'  Samuel  Tyler,  Memoir  of  Roger  Brooke  Taney,  p.  38. 

""  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42,  p.  140. 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  153 

lessening  the  necessary  outlay  of  money/^'^  But  funds 
were  scarce ;  there  was  dissension  in  the  Board ;  none 
of  the  other  Trustees  had  the  enthusiasm  and  energy 
of  Rush,  and  nothing  was  done.  Some  of  the  Trustees 
— Montgomery  in  particular — were  eager  to  rent  ''the 
works".  Rush  objected  to  their  unhealthy  situation 
and  even  threatened  to  resign  from  the  Board  if  this 
"mad  scheme"  were  pursued."^  But  coming  to  believe 
that  the  marsh  could  be  drained,  he  changed  his  mind 
and  urged  their  purchase."®  This  plan  was  in  turn 
given  up  probably  because  the  College  did  not  have 
the  twenty  thousand  dollars  asked  by  the  government. 
In  the  early  days  of  the  College  Dr.  Rush  believed 
that  the  Penn  family  stood  ready  to  donate  a  tract  of 
fifteen  or  twenty  acres  in  Carlisle  to  the  College  for  a 
campus.^^^  The  donation  was  never  made,  however. 
In  1791  a  committee  of  the  Board  was  appointed  to 
secure  a  site  and  erect  a  building  upon  it.  But  they 
did  not  act  for  want  of  sufficient  funds,  no  doubt — till 
1798,  when  they  bought  eight  acres  of  the  present  cam- 
pus from  the  Penn  family  for  one  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars.^^^   The  corner-stone  for  the  first  building  was 

'"  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42,  p.  141. 
"« Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  146. 
•"  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42,  p.  46,  p.  47. 
■      ""  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  41,  p.  42. 

^'^Geo.  R.   Crookes,  Dickinson  College:  The  History  of 
ft  Hundred  Years. 


154  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

laid  in  June,  1799,  but  the  building  was  not  completed 
for  several  years.  The  Trustees  had  great  difficulty  in 
obtaining  sufficient  money  to  meet  even  the  current 
expenses,  and  in  some  years  fell  into  arrears  for  the 
professors'  salaries  to  the  amount  of  almost  £200. 
The  number  of  students,  too,  v^as  decreasing — partly, 
of  course,  because  of  the  one-year  course,  which  re- 
quired an  entirely  new  body  of  students  every  year — 
until  for  several  years  it  seemed  as  if  no  building 
would  be  necessary,  because  there  would  soon  be  no 
students. ^^^  In  a  letter  to  Montgomery  Rush  says  he 
hopes  "it  will  not  become  necessary  for  Dr.  Nisbet  to 
publish  that  the  College  has  not  been  discontinued. "^^^ 
But  other  sorrows  were  in  store  for  the  College. 
The  structure  that  had  been  nearly  four  years  in  build- 
ing was  nearing  completion  at  the  beginning  of  1803. 
It  contained  twelve  rooms,  three  of  them  entirely  fin- 
ished and  even  occupied  in  January  of  that  year.  The 
College  equipment  had  not  yet  been  moved  in,  how- 
ever, and  very  fortunately,  for  on  February  3,  1803, 
the  building  caught  fire  from  some  hot  ashes  and 
burned  to  the  ground. ^^*  A  fire  had  shortly  before  dev- 
astated  Nassau   Hall    at    Princeton.      It   was   a   hard 

='*Rrish  MSS..  Vol.  42,  pp.  84,  87,  88. 

"*  Ibid.,  p.  88. 

***  There  are  difficulties  in  every  possible  interpretation  of 
the  data  about  the  fire  or  fires  which  destroyed  the  College 
building  or  buildings.      I   have  written  this   account   on  the 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  155 

blow,  and  only  Nisbet  seems  to  have  felt  little  grief 
at  the  loss.  The  day  after  the  fire  he  writes  to  Judge 
Allison/^'^  "You  must  have  heard  that  our  New  Col- 
lege was  burned  down  on  the  3rd  current.  We  had 
been  bothered  by  our  Trustees  to  make  our  College 
conform  to  Princeton  College.  We  have  now  attained 
a  pretty  near  conformity  to  it  by  having  our  new.  build- 
ing burnt  to  the  ground.  But  it  could  not  stand  as  it 
was  founded  in  fraud  and  knavery.  I  have  been  medi- 
tating on  Jeremiah  22:13,  'Woe  unto  him  that  build- 
eth  his  house  by  unrighteousness,  and  his  chambers 
b}^  wrong;  that  useth  his  neighbor's  service  with- 
out wages,  and  giveth  him  not  for  his  work.'  "  It  must 
be  admitted  that  Dr.  Nisbet  was  in  part  justified  in 
this  reference  to  the  large  amounts  of  unpaid  salary 

theory  that  there  was  only  one  fire — Feb.  3,  1803 — but  this 
requires  me  to  do  violence  to  two  letters,  one  by  Rush  and 
one  by  Montgomery,  both  dated  in  1802.  By  assuming  that 
these  dates  are  wrong  the  above  interpretation  of  the  known 
facts  becomes  possible.  The  letters  in  question  are  apparent- 
ly originals,  not  copies.  The  theory  that  there  were  two  fires 
—  one  Feb.  1802  and  another  Feb.  3,  1803  —  labors  under 
still  greater  difficulties.  There  is  no  evidence  of  two  building 
campaigns.  It  seems  impossible  that  a  building  should  have 
been  brought  near  to  completion  in  a  year  when  we  remem- 
ber how  slowly  the  work  on  the  buildings  begun  in  1799 
and  in  1803  progressed.  And  a  letter  by  Dr.  Nisbet  of  Feb. 
4,  1803,  mentions  only  the  one  fire. 

"'Geo.  R.  Crookes,  Dickinson  College:  The  History  of  a 
Hundred  Years. 


156  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

due  him.  Before  another  building  was  completed,  he 
had  passed  away  and  his  heirs  were  compelled  to  at- 
tach the  College  property  to  recover  arrears  of  salary 
amounting,  with  interest,  to  six  thousand  dollars. ^^^ 
Montgomery,  who  saw  the  fire,  expresses  his  dismay 
at  the  destruction  of  the  ''fine  large  building",  "orna- 
mental and  elegant",  in  a  letter  to  Rush.  And  Rush 
himself  seems  to  have  lost  hope  for  a  moment.  *'It 
has  added,"  he  says,^^^  "a  fresh  instance  to  the  number 
of  the  unsuccessful  issues  to  the  labors  of  my  life." 

But  hope  soon  revived.  A  subscription  was  start- 
ed at  Carlisle  and  very  generous  donations  were  ob- 
tained. The  members  of  Congress  contributed.  Jefifer- 
son  gave  one  hundred  dollars.  Dr.  Rush  suggested 
another  appeal  to  the  bounty  of  the  state  but  nothing 
seems  to  have  been  obtained  from  this  source.  In 
August,  1803  a  new  building — the  present  West  Col- 
lege, was  started. ^^®  It  was  not  finished  until  1806. 
The  last  donation  to  it  was  made  by  Dr.  Rush,  who 
contributed  the  money  to  construct  some  of  the  parti- 
tions between  the  various  rooms. 

In  1804,  as  we  have  seen,  Dr.  Nisbet  died.  His 
place  was  taken  for  a  time  by  Dr.  Davidson  who  was 

'"  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42,  p.  126.  This  attachment  was 
issued  about  January,  1810. 

'"  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42,  p.  88. 

"*  This  building  was  designed  by  Latrobe,  public  archi- 
tect at  Washington. 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  157 

appointed  President  pro  tempore.  There  were  several 
reasons  against  appointing  him  permanently.  He  was 
precise  and  pedantic,  and  therefore  not  very  popular 
with  the  students,  if  Taney's  memory  served  him.^^® 
He  was  pastor  of  a  Presbyterian  church  in  Carlisle  and 
preferred  to  give  all  this  time  to  ministerial  duties. 
And  there  was  opposition  to  him  in  the  Board.  But 
he  continued  to  direct  the  school  for  several  years 
until  a  successor  to  Dr.  Nisbet  should  be  chosen.  And 
before  he  finally  decided  to  resign  all  connection  with 
the  school,  it  seems  that  the  presidency  was  offered  to 
him  and  that  he  refused  it.^^''  In  1808,  Dr,  Samuel 
Miller,  later  a  Trustee  of  Princeton  and  a  Professor 
in  its  Theological  Seminary,  was  elected  President  of 
Dickinson  at  a  salary  "for  the  present"  of  $1000  a  year ; 
but  he  declined  the  honor.^^^  It  is  probable  that  this 
tender  of  the  office  was  made  through  Dr,  Rush,  for 
he  and  Dr.  Miller  were  personal  friends,  and  the  letter 
carrying  the  declination  was  directed  to  Rush  and  is 
preserved  among  his  manuscripts. ^^^  Dr.  Rush  was 
now  asked  to  correspond  with  the  colleges  of  the 
country  to  find  a  Principal. ^^^  A  good  deal  of  difficulty 
was  experienced  in  finding  a  suitable  candidate,  for 

^  Samuel  Tykr,  Memoir  of  Roger  Brooke  Taney,  p.  41  ff. 
^  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42,  p.  104. 
'^  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  27,  p.  130. 
^^-'Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  27,  p.  130. 
"'Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42,  p.  114. 


158  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

the  College  was  not  sufficiently  prosperous  and  well 
known  to  attract  a  first-class  man.  However,  in  June, 
1809,  the  Reverend  Jeremiah  Atwater,  President  of 
Middlebury  College,  Vermont,  was  chosen,  and  soon 
after  he  sent  Dr.  Rush  a  letter  signifying  his  accept- 
ance.^^* 

President  Atwater  came  to  Carlisle  in  September, 
stopping  in  Philadelphia  on  the  way,  where  he  was 
entertained  by  Dr.  Rush.^^""  The  College  now  began 
to  prosper.  Atwater,  trained  in  America,  used  to  hard- 
ships, and  accustomed  to  "small  things"  in  education, 
was  well  pleased  with  his  situation,  because  he  did 
not  expect  too  much.  The  building  struck  him  as  be- 
ing "elegant  and  spacious".  His  reception  by  Trus- 
tees, citizens  and  students  was  cordial.'  The  number 
of  students  soon  began  to  increase.  But  the  internal 
afifairs  of  the  College  were  very  much  like  those  of  a 
"city  broken  down  and  without  walls.  I  find  tha^  al- 
most everything  is  to  be  begun  anew.  I  find  many 
discouragements  but  nothing  great  or  arduous  is  ac- 

'^*  Mr.  Atwater  was  called  to  the  notice  of  Dr.  Rush 
through  Dr.  Dwight,  then  President  of  Yale  College.  Dr. 
Dwight  had  dined  with  Dr.  Rush  when  on  a  visit  to  Philadel- 
phia several  years  before.  Atwater  was  a  graduate  of  Yale. 
See  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42,  p.  119;  p.  97.  It  is  also  a  matter  of  a 
little  interest  that  Atwater,  while  at  Yale,  won  a  prize  offered 
by  Noah  Webster,  the  lexicographer. 

"^Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42,  p.  120. 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  159 

complished  without  patient  industry  and  laborious 
efforts. "^^"^  As  already  indicated,  many  of  these  diffi- 
culties were  overcome,  and  for  several  years  the  Col- 
lege was  fortunate  in  not  having  a  history. 

There  are,  however,  in  the  Rush  papers  a  number 
of  disconnected  notices  of  events  occurring  in  Presi- 
dent Atwater's  administration  that  may  be  assembled 
here.  Mr.  Dickinson  had  died  in  1808  without  making 
any  bequest  to  the  College.  Mr.  Atwater  tried  a  num- 
l)er  of  times,  through  Dr.  Rush,  to  secure  some  money 
from  the  estate  for  the  College.  But  we  do  not  read 
that  he  was  successful. ^^"  He  also  tried  to  get  further 
aid  from  the  Legislature.^^^  One  plan  was  to  sell  back 
to  the  State  the  College  lands  at  $4  an  acre,  but  noth- 
ing came  of  it. 

In  1810,  Mr.  Atwater  made  out  the  first  catalog  of 
the  College  that  was  ever  printed.  He  discovered  that 
there  were  three  vacancies  at  the  Board  of  Trustees.^^* 

In  1810,  also,  Dr.  Rush  purchased  for  the  College 
some  important  chemical  and  physical  apparatus,  the 
bills  for  which  have  been  preserved. ^^°  The  same  year, 

"M^ush   MSS.,   Vol.  42,  p.   120.     Atwater   to   Rush,   Oct. 
2,  1809. 

^'^Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42,  pp.  122,  126.  127,  138. 
"'Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42,  pp.  120,  126,  127. 
"'  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42,  p.  137. 
"•Ibid.,  pp.  142,  143,  144. 


160  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

the  Board  resolved  ''that  Dr.  Rush  be  empowered  and 
directed  to  expend  $200  in  the  purchase  of  such  books 
for  the  Library  as  he  may  deem  most  useful, "^*^  and 
President  Atwater  had  a  list  of  those  they  already  had 
in  the  Library  made  out,  so  as  to  avoid  duplication.^*- 
In  the  following  year  (1811)  a  chair  of  Chemistry  was 
established  and  Dr.  Thomas  Cooper — the  son-in-law 
of  Joseph  Priestley  and  one  of  the  most  versatile  of 
men — was  added  to  the  Faculty. 

The  University  of  Pennsylvania  conferred  the  de- 
gree of  Doctor  of  Divinity  upon  President  Atwater  in 
1811.  In  a  letter  of  that  year  to  Dr.  Rush,  he  thanks 
him  for  his  ''friendly  share"  in  the  matter  and  con- 
tinues '}'^^  "The  principal  circumstance  that  might  rec- 
oncile me  to  it,  is  that  in  my  office  here,  I  have  been 
from  the  first  saluted  with  the  title  of  'Doctor'  which, 
Avhile  I  had  no  claims  to  it,  was  rather  embarrassing 
to  me." 

There  are  no  sufficient  data  to  fix  the  number  of 
students  attending  the  College  in  this  early  period,  or 
even  of  the  number  of  graduates  of  each  year.  Such 
data  as  exist  will  here  be  detailed.  In  the  catalog, 
published  in  1810,  it  is  stated  that  there  were  then  223 
graduates  of  the  institution,  all  of  whom  had  received 

'*'  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42,  p.  145. 

"'  Ibid.,  p.  146. 

"'Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42,  p.  157. 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  16J 

the  A.  B.  degree.  The  number  of  graduates  for  several 
of  the  years  is  shown  in  the  following  table: 

Commencement  Number  of  Graduates 

September  27,  1787                      9 

May  7,  1788  11 

June  3,  1789  11 

September  28,  1790                     12 

1791 — No  Commencement 

May  2,  1792  Number  unknown 

1802  8 

May,  1805 — Two  classes,  number  not  known. 
October,  1805 — Number  not  known. 

When  Dr.  Nisbet  issued  his  first  presidential  re- 
port (Nov.  15,  1786),  there  were  forty-one  boys  in  the 
grammar  school  and  twenty  in  the  College.^**  In  1788 
the  number  of  students  is  reported  as  declining."^  In 
May,  1801,  there  were  forty  students,"®  but  whether 
this  included  the  grammar  school,  cannot  be  made  out. 
In  the  fall  of  1801  there  was  a  further  decrease.^*"  In 
June,  1803,  the  school  was  again  increasing.     In  1809 

'**  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42.  p.  36. 
'*•  Ibid.,  p.  48. 

'*•  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42,  p.  83. 
"^  Ibid.,  pp.  87,  88. 


162  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

they  numbered  61  ;^^«   in  1810,  77  \   in  November,  1810, 
nearly  90;^^»   in  May,  1811,  there  were  110.^^^ 

Thus  the  school  gradually  raised  its  head  again  and 
in  Rush's  latter  years  he  was  fully  convinced  that  the 
institution  was  now  firmly  established  and  would  con- 
tinue to  promulgate  sound  learning  in  "the  western 
parts"  of  Pennsylvania.  In  a  letter  to  John  Adams, 
less  than  a  year  and  a  half  before  his  death  (Dec.  26, 
1811)  in  writing  out  a  list  of  the  hostilities  he  had  in- 
curred during  his  lifetime  he  adds  :^^^  "I  forgot  to 
mention  a  6th  source  of  hostility  to  me  from  a  part  of 
my  fellow  citizens.  It  was  brought  on  by  my  concur- 
ring in  establishing  a  College  at  Carlisle  in  this  state. 
....  [It  is]  now  in  the  hands  chiefly  of  the  Presbyte- 
rians [and]  is  a  flourishing  institution — the  President, 
a  Dr.  Atwater,  has  given  it  great  celebrity." 

But  this  era  of  prosperity  lasted  only  a  few  years 
longer,  when  the  defect  of  the  Charter,  already  noticed, 
caused  the  complete  downfall  of  the  institution.  Presi- 
dent Atwater  had,  soon  after  the  beginning  of  his  ad- 
ministration, hinted  at  some  disciplinary  troubles,  and 
insisted,  in  opposition  to  Rush's  theory,  that  the  stu- 
dents lodge  in  the  College  under  tutors,  as  was  the 

"''Rush  MSS.,  Vol    42,  p.  131. 

"Mbid.,  p.  148. 

"•Ibid.,  p.  156. 

''^  Rush  MSS..  Vol.  29,  p.   138. 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  163 

practice  at  Princeton  at  this  time/'''"  A  little  later  he 
again  put  his  finger  on  the  same  sore,  declaring  that 
the  difficulties  of  the  college  had  their  origin  in  the 
"want  of  a  strong  government"  ;^^^  and  that  ''the  Trus- 
tees were  very  much  divided"/"''"  Things  went  on  in 
this  way  for  a  number  of  years,  however,  before  the 
crisis  was  reached.  In  June,  1815,  the  Board  of  Trus- 
tees passed  a  resolution  requiring  the  Principal  and 
the  professors  to  report  each  week  to  the  Secretary  of 
the  Board  all  student  delinquencies  and  offenses  with 
the  judgment  of  the  Faculty  as  to  the  disposition  to 
be  made  of  each  case/^*  Within  a  few  months  Presi- 
dent Atwater  and  Professors  Cooper  and  Shaw  re- 
signed. The  Reverend  John  McKnight  was  appointed 
President  pro  tempore  but  the  work  of  the  year  was 
not  a  success  and  in  1816  the  College  was  closed. 

It  was  not  re-opened  until  1821,  when,  with  a 
strong  Faculty  and  considerable  aid  from  the  State, 
it  entered  on  a  new  lease  of  life,  which  lasted  for  a 
decade.  But  the  same  trouble  that  had  plagued  the 
institution  from  the  beginning  returned  anew.  And, 
although  we  have  now  exceeded  the  period  properly 
to   be   included   in   an   account   of  the   foundation   of 

''^'Rush   MSS.,  Vol.  42,  p.   137.     Atwater  to  Rush,  Sept. 
18,  1810. 

"'Ibid.,  p.  152.    March  11,  1811. 
'"^C.  F.  Himes,  A  Sketch  etc.,  p.  51. 


164  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

Dickinson  College,  and  of  Dr.  Rush's  connection  there- 
with, we  cannot  better  detail  the  defects  of  its  orig- 
inal government  than  by  summarizing  a  portion  of  an 
"address  to  the  public",  published  by  an  able  professor 
in  the  institution,  after  his  resignation,  near  the  end 
of  the  decade  just  mentioned. 

Henry  Vethake,  Professor  of  Mathematics  from 
1821  to  1829,  points  out  the  following  defects  '.^^'^ 

1.  The  Faculty  has  not  the  right  to  dismiss  any 
student  no  matter  what  the  offense.  They  can  only 
present  a  delinquent  to  the  Board  for  dismission  who 
alone  has  the  power  under  the  Charter.  The  Faculty 
has  not  the  authority  to  employ  even  a  messenger  or 
do  anything  incurring  the  least  expense  without  a 
meeting  and  the  assent  of  the  Board. 

2.  This  requires  the  residence  in  Carlisle  of  a  quo- 
rum of  the  Board.  The  gossip  of  the  students  and  of 
the  town  influences  these  resident  Trustees.  Meetings 
are  held  for  every  case  of  discipline.  In  a  single  year 
(1826)  there  were  forty  meetings  of  the  Board.    Con- 

155  ..^  Reply  to  'A  Narrative  of  the  Proceedings  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees  of  Dickinson  College  from  1821  to  1830.'  " 
By  Henry  Vethake,  Princeton,  Dec.  15,  1830.  The  "Reply", 
although  in  part  personal,  is  on  the  whole  a  sane  and  judicial 
paper.  The  author  had  abundant  opportunity  of  learning  the 
facts.  The  "Narrative  of  the  Proceedings"  seems  to  have  dis- 
appeared. The  "Reply"  is  preserved  by  the  Philadelphia 
Library  Co. 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  165 

tinual  legislation  begets  the  need  for  more  legislation 
to  remedy  the  defects  of  that  already  passed  until  the 
College  is  choked  by  a  multitude  of  ill-digested  laws. 
3.  There  is  no  representation  of  the  Faculty  in  the 
Board,  nor  is  the  Faculty  asked  to  aid  the  Board  with 
information  and  suggestions.  Besides  the  passage  of 
unsuitable  measures,  this  causes  a  tendency  to  keep 
secret  from  the  Faculty  the  action  of  the  Board  on 
matters  of  the  utmost  consequence  to  the  school. 

Dr.  Rush  has  justly  been  called  the  "Father  of 
Dickinson  College".  It  was  no  doubt  with  "solid 
pleasure"  that  he  read  the  following  well  deserved 
message  from  General  Armstrong,  sent  in  1790:^^^  "It 
is,  sir,  with  the  solid  pleasure  of  an  old  friend,  I  now 
transmit  to  you  the  highest  sense  of  your  merit  enter- 
tained by  the  Acting  Trustees  of  Dickinson  College, 
recorded  amongst  our  minutes  and  expressed  in  the 
following  words :    'The   Committee   having   reported 

'**  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42,  p.  64.  Armstrong  to  Rush,  Sept. 
30,  1790.  John  Armstrong  was  at  this  time  Acting  President  in 
place  of  Dickinson  at  the  Board.  After  Armstrong's  death 
Colonel  John  Montgomery  succeeded  him.  Dickinson  and 
Montgomery  died  in  the  same  year,  1808.  First  John  King 
and  later  James  Armstrong  were  chosen  Presidents  of  the 
Board.  There  is  apparently  no  ea'idence  that  Mr.  Dickinson 
took  any  active  interest  in  the  College  after  the  first  few 
years.  He  did,  however,  take  an  interest  in  Dr.  Nisbet  and 
conferred  an  annuity  on  him. 


166  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

on  the  Papers  sent  by  Dr.  Rush,  Resolved,  that  the 
Board  are  deeply  sensible  of  the  very  great  services  of 
the  Doctor,  and  not  only  most  cordially  approve  of  his 
conduct,  but  hereby  declare  their  warmest  acknowl- 
edgements, for  his  extraordinary  zeal  and  diligence  in 
promoting  the  good  of  this  Institution — and  that  this 
expression  of  our  gratitude  be  transmitted  to  him  by 
the  President.'  "  But  along  with  this  praise,  he  must 
also  take  the  blame  for  his  mistakes  in  the  molding  of 
the  institution.  He  was  probably  the  author  of  the 
plan  for  that  joint  government  of  the  school  which 
was  its  undoing.  But  this  can  not  now  be  de'..  rmined. 
At  any  rate  he  was  its  champion,  fearing  that  "the  Re- 
publican constitution  of  the  College"  would  "be  re- 
duced to  the  despotism  of  a  private  school  ;"^^''  and  in- 
sisting on  retaining  that  defect  in  the  constitution  of 
a  College  which  he  never  wearied  in  pointing  out  in 
the  Constitution  of  the  nation — the  Articles  of  Confed- 
eration —  namely,  the  lack  of  centralized  executive 
power. 

This  account  of  the  early  history  of  Dickinson  may 
be  concluded  with  the  following  copy  of  an  advertise- 
ment of  Dickinson  College. ^"^^ 

'"  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42,  pp.  33,  34. 

"*This  notice  appeared  in  the  Philadelphia  papers  for 
February  7,  1787.  See  Independent  Gazeteer  (No.  361)  and 
Pennsylvania  Packet  for  that  date.  There  is  a  paper  in 
Rush's   hand   among   the   MSS.    (Vol.   41,   p.    173),   evidently 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  167 

Dickinson  College  at  Carlisle, 
19  Dec,  1786. 

For  the  satisfaction  of  the  friends  and  benefactors 
of  this  institution,  and  to  encourage  young  men  to 
come  to  a  seminary,  where  they  may  receive  a  liberal 
education  on  the  most  reasonable  terms,  the  trustees 
of  this  college,  at  their  last  meeting,  ordered  a  brief 
account  of  the  state  of  the  College  to  be  drawn  up  for 
publication,  which  is  as  follows: 

The  house  in  which  the  classes  are  taught  at  pres- 
ent is  situated  in  a  pleasant  part  of  the  town,  and  is 
sixty  feet  long  and  twenty-three  broad.  Three  large 
rooms  are  finished  for  the  purpose  of  teaching;  there 
is  also  a  library  room  and  an  appartment  [sic]  for  the 
philosophical  apparatus. 

prepared  to  be  laid  before  the  Board  in  which  it  is  suggested 
that  a  member  of  the  Board  be  appointed  to  draw  up  before 
the  next  meeting  a  "short  history  of  the  rise  and  progress 
of  the  College",  a  copy  of  the  Charter  and  "of  our  plan  of 
education",  a  list  of  the  contributors  to  the  College,  notices 
of  the  professors,  etc.  This  v^^as  to  be  printed  in  pamphlet 
form  and  widely  circulated.  Rush  suggested  Mr.  King,  after- 
wards President  of  the  Board,  as  probably  the  best  man  to 
write  this  short  histor3^  Mr.  King  answered  this  suggestion 
(Vol.  42,  p.  15.  King  to  Rush,  May  25,  1786)  after  the  meet- 
ing of  the  Board  by  saying  that  the  "writing  of  the  history 
of  the  rise,  progress  and  state  of  the  college"  had  been  de- 
ferred until  the  following  year.  "I  hope  you  will  be  enabled 
to  write  this",  he  adds.  Probably  this  "advertisement"  "'s 
the  result  of  that  discussion. 


168  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

The  library  already  consists  of  two  thousand,  seven 
hundred  and  six  volumes,  in  the  Hebrew,  Greek,  Latin, 
English,  French,  German,  Low  Dutch  and  Italian  lan- 
guages, the  donations  of  gentlemen  in  England,  Scot- 
land and  Philadelphia. 

The  philosophical  apparatus  contains  a  complete 
electrical  machine,  a  camera  obscura  of  a  new  con- 
struction, a  prism,  a  telescope,  a  solar  microscope,  a 
barometer  and  thermometer,  upon  one  scale,  and  a 
large  and  elegant  set  of  globes. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Nisbet  gives  lectures  daily  on  logic, 
metaphysic,  and  moral  philosophy.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Da- 
vidson teaches  geography,  history,  chronology,  rheto- 
ric, and  belles  lettres ;  and  as  there  is  no  professor  of 
natural  philosophy  yet  chosen,  the  above  gentlemen 
have  undertaken  for  the  present  season,  to  give  lec- 
tures and  instruction  in  that  science.  The  senior  class, 
consisting  of  twenty  students,  are  studying  natural 
and  moral  philosophy,  having  already  studied  the 
classics  and  mathematics,  and  other  branches  usually 
taught  in  other  colleges.  Mr.  Robert  Johnson  teaches 
the  several  branches  of  the  mathematics.  Mr.  James 
Ross  with  proper  assistants  teaches  the  Greek  and 
Latin  languages.  —  The  tuition  money  is  only  five 
pounds  per  annum  to  be  paid  half-yearly,  and  twenty- 
five  shillings  entrance ;  boarding  can  be  had  at  twenty- 
six  pounds  per  annum,  in  genteel  houses,  including 


DICKINSON  COLLEGE  169 

washing,  mending,  fire  and  candles ;  twelve  boarding 
houses  are  now  open,  equal  to  any  at  other  seminaries, 
and  the  greatest  attention  will  be  paid  to  the  morals  of 
the  students  by  Dr.  Nisbet  and  Dr.  Davidson,  who 
officiate  in  the  Presbyterian  church  on  Sundays. 
By  order  of  the  board, 

John  Armstrong,  Presi.  pro  tem. 


CHAPTER  V. 

EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  OF  RUSH 

INTRODUCTION 

1.    A  SYSTEM  OF  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

Soon  after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  by  the 
Federal  Convention  in  1787,  Dr.  Rush  wrote,  saying 
that,  as  "the  dimensions  of  the  human  mind"  are  apt 
to  be  regulated  by  the  grandeur,  or  the  lack  of  it,  of  its 
interests,  so  would  the  American  consciousness  be  ex- 
panded and  dignified  by  having  its  attention  directed 
to  the  great  policies  of  a  national  government  rather 
than  to  the  contracted  objects  of  a  state.  He  declared 
that  "a  citizen  and  legislator  of  the  free  and  United 
States  of  America  will  be  one  of  the  first  characters  in 
the  world."  As  far  as  his  own  educational  opinions 
were  concerned,  this  utterance  was  autobiographical ; 
for  it  was  at  this  time  that  he  extended  his  plan  for  a 
state  school  system  and  made  it  national  in  its  scope. 

We  have  already  seen  that  Rush  regarded  educa- 
tion as  the  universal  solvent,  which  would  unify  to  a 
degree  the  racial,  political  and  religious  diversities. of 


172  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

the  people  of  the  United  States ;  which  would  arm 
them  against  foreign  aggression,  moral  and  military; 
and  which  would  rouse  them  from  domestic  apathy 
and  calm  their  internal  dissensions. 

He  proposed  to  make  this  education  effective  by 
means  of  a  nation-wide  system  of  state-supported 
schools  with  a  ''federal"  or  national  university  at  the 
apex.  He  sketched  the  plan  for  a  system  of  higher 
education  of  his  own  state  and  in  the  foundation  of 
Dickinson  College  aided  in  its  actual  realization.  He 
indicated  that  this  superstructure  should  rest  ulti- 
mately upon  a  system  of  elementary  schools,  in  which 
the  humblest  and  poorest  child  should  be  able  to  se- 
cure his  early  training.  We  will  review  the  system  in 
the  order  here  indicated. 

He  proposed  the  establishment  of  a  national  uni- 
versity in  two  papers  which  are  reprinted  at  the  end 
of  this  chapter.  In  the  earlier  of  these  articles,  the 
famous  and  often  misquoted  "Address  to  the  People 
of  the  United  States"  he  says :  "To  conform  the  prin- 
ciples, morals  and  manners  of  our  citizens  to  our  re- 
publican forms  of  government,  it  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary that  knowledge  of  every  kind  should  be  dissem- 
inated through  every  part  of  the  United  States.  For 
this  purpose  let  Congress,  instead  of  laying  out  half  a 
million  of  dollars,  in  building  a  Federal  town,  appro- 
priate only  a  fourth  of  that  sum  in  founding  a  federal 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  173 

university."  With  regard  to  the  small  sum  of  money 
with  which  he  was  willing  to  have  the  work  begun, 
it  must  be  remembered  that  that  amount  had  very 
much  greater  purchasing  power  in  1787  than  it  would 
have  in  our  day.  The  laboratory  requirements  and 
the  "plants"  generally  of  even  the  richest  universities 
were  very  much  smaller  than  they  are  now.  And  the 
government  was  poor.  Hence  the  sum  suggested  was 
no  doubt  also  accommodated  to  the  means  at  hand. 

In  the  second  article,  "A  Plan  of  a  Federal  Univer- 
sity," he  begins  by  quoting  and  rebutting  several  of 
the  arguments  that  had  been  urged  against  the  adop- 
tion of  the  Federal  Constitution.  And  he  again  insists 
on  his  favorite  idea  that  the  success  of  the  government 
depends  on  the  preparation  of  the  citizens  for  their 
new  civic  duties  by  an  education  suited  "to  the  new 
and  peculiar  situation  of  our  country." 

Let  it  not  be  said,  that  this  is  not  the  time  to  es- 
tablish such  an  institution,  that  we  should  wait  until 
we  have  restored  our  credit  by  funding  or  paying  our 
debts,  that  we  must  first  regulate  our  militia,  build  a 
navy,  extend  our  commerce.  Let  it  not  be  urged  that 
after  all  this  we  will  have  leisure  and  money  for  a 
national  university. 

Those  who  reason  thus  invert  the  natural  order  of 
procedure.  First  and  most  important  should  be  con- 
sidered the  duty  to  remove  the  ignorance  and  preju- 


174  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

dices,  to  change  the  habits  of  thought  of  our  dis- 
affected and  apathetic  citizens  and  to  "inspire  them 
with  federal  principles ;"  to  educate  as  highly  as  pos- 
sible the  most  promising  young  men  and  then  to  send 
them  throughout  our  land  disseminating  their  knowl- 
edge and  principles  in  every  count}^,  township  and  vil- 
lage of  the  land.  The  restoration  of  public  credit,  the 
regulation  of  the  militia,  the  construction  of  a  navy, 
the  revival  of  commerce  will  then  follow  by  means  of 
the  impetus  given  by  education  to  the  very  heart  and 
life  of  the  Republic.  Until  this  is  done  we  are  trying 
to  make  bricks  without  straw. 

Only  graduate  work  was  to  be  done  in  this  federal 
institution.  No  students  were  to  be  admitted  who  did 
not  already  hold  a  degree  from  one  of  the  colleges  of 
the  country.  All  the  teaching  and  investigating  facili- 
ties were  to  be  of  the  most  advanced  type  and  all  were 
to  be  used  for  the  purpose  of  preparing  men  to  serve 
their  country  in  the  most  responsible  stations. 

The  content  of  the  course  of  study  was  determined 
by  this  object,  namely  the  preparation  of  students  for 
civil  and  public  life.  The  subjects  that  were  distinct- 
ly utilitarian  from  this  point  of  view,  were  therefore 
stressed.  The  places  of  honor  in  the  curriculum  are 
given  to  law,  both  national  and  international,  politics, 
and  history.  Special  study  should  be  made  of  every- 
thing that  relates  to  war,  since  "there  is  too  much  rea- 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  175 

son  to  fear  that  war  will  continue  for  some  time  to 
come,  to  be  the  unchristian  mode  of  deciding  disputes 
between  Christian  nations ;"  to  treaties ;  to  ambassa- 
dors and  foreign  relations,  and  particularly  to  the' con- 
stitution, its  interpretation  and  the  principles  and 
forms  of  government  established  by  it.  History,  both 
ancient  and  modern,  is  to  form  an  important  part  of 
the  course.  Rush,  in  common  with  the  other  Ameri- 
can Fathers,  delighted  in  the  story  of  the  free  colonies 
of  Greece,  which  were,  of  course,  not  colonies  at  all, 
in  the  English  sense.  This  is  the  ancient  history  he 
so  ardently  champions. 

Agriculture  in  all  its  numerous  and  extensive 
branches,  with  its  large  circle  of  related  and  subsidiary 
sciences,  comes  next  in  the  course.  The  list  of  sciences 
that  he  quotes  as  contributing  to  agriculture  is  re- 
markable for  that  day.  He  even  projected  the  study 
of  forestry.  A  careful  study  of  that  one  subject  alone 
— if  it  had  led  in  that  early  day  to  proper  methods  of 
conservation — would  have  repaid  for  all  the  expense 
of  a  national  university. 

The  principles  and  practice  of  manufacturing,  the 
principles,  objects,  channels  and  history  of  commerce 
were  to  be  taught.  In  connection  with  the  work  in 
agriculture,  manufacturing  and  commerce,  Rush 
would  have  established  as  parts  of  the  university,  a 
botanical  garden  and  a  museum. 


176  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

Mathematics  was  to  be  taught  only  for  its  appli- 
cations, especially  those  having  to  do  with  finance  and 
with  war.  The  repeated  references  to  war  reminds 
one  that  the  establishment  of  a  military  academy  had 
not  yet  been  projected. 

So  far  the  program  has  been  distinctly  political  and 
scientific.  But  Rush  does  not  stop  here.  He  adds  the 
study  of  languages,  for,  in  order  to  sustain  properly 
the  reputation  of  being  "one  of  the  first  characters  in 
the  world,"  a  man  must  not  only  have  wisdom  and 
knowledge,  but  must  be  able  to  communicate  them 
simply  and  effectively  and  to  increase  his  store  quickly 
and  independently. 

Hence  the  students  of  the  National  University 
must  study  English  above  all  other  languages.  This 
is  more  necessary,  since  he  supposes  that  our  inter- 
course with  Great  Britain  must  soon  cease.  And  any- 
way, American  writers  must  cultivate  a  simpler  style 
than  is  common  in  England.  "The  cultivation  and 
perfection  of  our  language  becomes  a  matter  of  conse- 
quence when  viewed  in  another  light.  It  will  probably 
be  spoken  by  more  people  in  the  course  of  two  or  three 
centuries,  than  ever  spoke  any  one  language,  at  one 
time,  since  the  creation  of  the  world."  Not  only  Eng- 
lish, however,  but  also  German  and  French  must  be 
taught  because  of  the  many  important  books  in  those 
languages.    A  knowledge  of  the  state  of  affairs  in  Eu- 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  177 

rope  and  of  the  many  improvements  always  going  for- 
ward there  render  a  knowledge  of  those  languages 
essential  to  any  one  who  would  legislate  for  the  Uni- 
ted States. 

Nor  does  he  forget  the  sound  bodies  which  are 
necessary  to  the  educated  minds  of  these  students. 
Therefore  he  recommends  that  ''athletic  and  manlv 
exercises"  should  be  taught  so  as  "to  impart  health, 
strength  and  elegance"  to  the  human  body. 

Provision  is  to  be  made  for  a  number  of  traveling 
fellows  to  collect  information  at  home  and  abroad.  A 
liberal  salary  is  to  be  given  to  the  head  of  this  institu- 
tion who  is  to  be  a  man  of  the  first  rank.  The  profess- 
ors are  to  be  remunerated  partly  by  salaries,  partly 
by  fees.  The  degrees  —  created  for  the  purpose  — 
granted  by  the  National  University,  should  indicate 
the  completion  of  a  course  of  education  for  civil  and 
public  life. 

This  last  suggestion — that  the  proposed  National 
Universit}^  should  grant  unique  degrees  which  should 
indicate  the  completion  of  studies,  preparing  one  for 
official  life  and  that  eventually  only  holders  of  the  de- 
grees should  be  eligible  to  federal  office,  contained  in 
both  the  papers  we  have  been  outlining,  is  most  thor- 
oughly undemocratic,  and  is  an  example  of  those  re- 
markable and  erratic  ideas  that  sometimes  possessed 
the  mind  of  Rush.     How  this  ardent  democrat,  who 


178  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

never  tired  of  inveighing  against  the  dangers  of  ''great 
men",  could  have  suggested  putting  such  a  political 
engine  into  the  hands  of  the  government,  is  a  mystery. 
That  only  graduates  of  a  particular  institution,  and 
that  institution  absolutely  in  the  hands  of  the  govern- 
ment, should  be  eligible  to  public  office,  is  a  suggestion 
too  wild  to  deserve  consideration.  Such  an  arrange- 
ment, supposing  it  could  have  been  made,  would  have 
been  one  sure  way  of  wrecking  either  the  institution 
or  the  government,  or  both. 

Before  he  closes  he  makes  a  plea  for  a  practical  and 
useful  education  and  it  must  be  admitted  that,  barring 
his  habitual  unfairness  to  the  claims  of  the  ancient 
languages,  his  definition  of  useful  and  practical  is  rela- 
tively broad.  Except  for  a  few  historical  references, 
the  obsolete  names  of  several  sciences,  as  for  example, 
natural  philosophy,  the  "Address"  is  thoroughly  mod- 
ern. Indeed,  it  would  make  a  better  address  for  the 
early  twentieth  century  than  it  did  for  the  last  quarter 
of  the  eighteenth.  By  the  progress  of  a  century  and  a 
quarter  it  is  now  rendered  a  little  less  radical  than  it 
then  was.  His  breadth  and  scope  are  entirely  refresh- 
ing. 

It  is  to  be  noticed  also  that  the  reasons  he  gives 
for  spending  the  nation's  funds  for  the  education  of 
her  citizens  are  sound.  They  are  the  reasons  of  a 
statesman,  not  those  of  a  reformer  merely,  or  those  of 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  179 

a  professed  philanthropist.  He  writes  like  one  in  act- 
ual touch  with  the  needs  of  a  concrete  situation.  He 
says  the  nation's  resources  should  be  applied  to  edu- 
cation because  only  in  this  way  can  a  more  intelligent 
citizenship  be  developed  and  the  stability  and  progress 
of  the  nation  be  secured.  This  is  our  argument  pre- 
cisely. 

Dr.  Rush  never  fully  outlined  his  plan  for  instruc- 
tion to  apply  to  colleges,  academies  and  free  schools. 
Siich  hints  as  he  gave  are  found  in  the  papers  reprinted 
on  pages  198,  206  and  220. 

2.  THE  Ex\RLY  LITERATURE  ON  A  NATIONAL 
UNIVERSITY 
Several  writers  on  the  history  of  education  have 
given  the  credit  for  first  suggesting  a  national  univer- 
sity to  Samuel  Blodget,  Jr.  His  claim  rests  on  the 
following  passage  in  his  ''Economica",  published  in 
1806.^ 

^  Blodget  was  first  rescued  from  obscurity  by  Dr.  George 
Brown  Goode,  "The  Origin  of  the  National  Scientific  and 
Educational  Institutions  of  the  United  States";  American 
Historical  Association  Report  for  1889.  Dr.  Goode  is  fol- 
lowed by  Prof.  B.  A.  Hinsdale,  Documents  Illustrative  of 
American  Educational  History;  Report  of  the  U.  S.  Commis- 
sioner of  Education  for  1892-93,  Vol.  II,  p.  1295,  and  by  Dr. 
John  W.  Hoyt,  Memorial  to  the  Senate  of  the  U.  S.  on  a 
National  University,  Senate  Misc.  Documents.  52nd  Con- 
gress, 1st  session.  Vol.  5,  p.  27  ff.  ((1891-92).  My  atten- 
tion was  first  called  to  Blodget's  later  and  checkered  career 


180  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

"We  have  now  to  commence  on  a  sublime  subject 
indeed!  but  yet  of  such  latent  importance,  we  cannot 
hope  to  do  it  justice.  Time  will  unfold  its  beauties  in 
all  their  splendor;  while  we  can  only  speak  of  the  bud 
of  this  flower  of  the  universe.  As  the  most  minute 
circumstances  are  sometimes  interesting  for  their  re- 
lation to  great  events,  we  relate  the  first  we  ever  heard 
of  a  national  university :  it  was  in  the  camp  at  Cam- 
bridge, in  October  1775,  when  Major  William  Blodget 
went  to  the  quarters  of  general  Washington,  to  com- 
plain of  the  ruinous  state  of  the  colleges,  from  the  con- 
duct of  the  militia  quartered  therein.  The  writer  of 
this  being  in  company  with  his  friend  and  relation, 
and  hearing  general  Greene  join  in  lamenting  the  then 
ruinous  state  of  the  oldest  seminary  in  Massachusetts, 
observed,  merely  to  console  the  company  of  friends, 
that  to  make  amends  for  these  injuries,  after  our  war, 
he  hoped,  we  should  erect  a  noble  national  university, 
at  which  the  youth  of  all  the  world  might  be  proud  to 
receive  instruction.  What  was  thus  pleasantly  said, 
Washington  immediately  replied  to,  with  that  inimit- 
ably expressive  and  truly  interesting  look,  for  which 
he  was  sometimes  so  remarkable:  'Young  man,  you 
are  a  prophet !  inspired  to  speak,  what  I  feel  confident 

by  Bryan's  History  of  the  National  Capital.  See  bibliog- 
raphy. An  article  by  the  writer  on  this  subject  was  printed 
in  School  and  Society,  Mar.  11,  1916. 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  181 

will  one  day  be  realized!'  He  then  detailed  to  the  com- 
pany his  impressions,  that  all  North  America  would 
one  day  become  united ;  he  said  that  a  colonel  Byrd, 
of  Virginia,  he  believed,  was  the  first  man  who  had 
pointed  out  the  best  central  seat,  near  to  the  present 
spot,  or  about  the  falls  of  Potomack.  General  Wash- 
ington further  said,  that  a  Mr.  Evans  had  expressed 
the  same  opinion,  with  many  other  gentlemen,  who 
from  a  cursory  view  of  a  chart  of  North  America,  re- 
ceived this  natural  and  truly  correct  impression.  The 
look  of  general  Washington,  the  energy  of  his  mind, 
his  noble  and  irresistible  eloquence,  all  conspired,  so 
far  to  impress  the  writer  with  these  subjects,  that  if 
ever  he  should  unfortunately  become  insane,  it  will  be 
from  his  anxiety  for  the  federal  city  and  National 
University."^  Now,  on  this  passage,  it  is  to  be  re- 
marked, first  of  all,  that  this  record  of  a  chance  meet- 
ing and  a  casual  conversation  was  wTitten  fully  thirty 
years  after  the  event  it  narrates  and  seven  years  after 
the  death  of  the  principal  speaker.  Perhaps  also,  the 
words,  put  into  the  mouth  of  Washington  under  the 
circumstances  given,  are  not  quite  in  character.  But 
pass  that  by.  Washington,  so  far  as  is  known,  did  not 
refer  to  a  national  university  after  the  date  of  this 
supposed  conversation  until  he  was  President  of  the 

"  S.  Blodget,  Jr.,  Economica:  A  Statistical  Manual;  Wash- 
ington, 1806;  pp.  22,  23. 


182  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

United  States.  Then,  on  January  8,  1790  —  fifteen 
years  after  the  date  mentioned  by  Blodget — in  his 
"Speech  delivered  to  both  Houses  of  Congress",  after 
speaking  of  the  importance  of  education,  especially  in 
a  democracy,  and  pointing  out  the  advantages  to  the 
country,  to  be  derived  from  the  promotion  of  science 
and  literature  he  goes  on  to  say:  "Whether  this  de- 
sirable object  will  be  best  promoted  by  affording  aids 
to  seminaries  of  learning  already  established,  by  the 
institution  of  a  national  university,  or  by  any  other 
expedients,  will  be  well  worthy  of  a  place  in  the  de- 
liberations of  the  legislature. ""^  Furthermore  Wash- 
ington had  heard  the  idea  of  a  national  university 
broached  in  the  Federal  Convention  of  1787  when 
Madison  and  Pinckney  moved  to  insert  in  the  list  of 
powers  vested  in  Congress  a  power  "to  establish  a  uni- 
versity."* But  Washington  makes  some  remarks  in 
his  correspondence  with  his  Secretary  of  State  that  are 
very  much  to  the  point  here.  In  a  letter  to  Hamilton 
of  September  1,  1796,  after  speaking  of  a  national  uni- 
versity, he  adds,  "To  show  that  this  is  no  new  idea  of 
mine,  I  may  appeal  to  my  early  communications  to 
Congress."''  And  in  a  second  letter  five  days  later,  after 
asking  Hamilton  to  make  a  draft  of  what  should  be 

^  Sparks'  Writings  of  George  Washington,  Vol.  XII,  p.  9. 
*  Elliot's  Debates,  Vol.  I,    p.  147,  Vol.  V.  pp.  440,  544. 
'Works  of  Alexander  Hamilton,  Vol.  VI,  p.  147. 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  183 

said  on  the  subject  of  a  national  university  in  the  next 
speech  to  Congress,  he  urges  him  to  look  into  what 
had  been  said  on  this  head  in  1790,  but  "this  is  not" 
he  continues,  '*so  much  to  the  point  as  what  is  now  to 
be  said,  though  it  may  if  proper,  be  glanced  at  to  show 
that  the  subject  had  caught  my  attention  early."®  If 
Washington  had  heard  of  a  national  university  in  1775 
it  is  clear  that  he  had  forgotten  that  early  meeting 
with  the  youthful  "prophet".  This,  to  be  sure,  is  quite 
a  possible  explanation.  But  it  is  clear  that  the  "early" 
in  the  above  quotation  refers  to  about  1790  and  that  in 
1796  Washington  himself  did  not  date  his  interest  in  a 
national  university  back  to  1775. 

The  next  question  that  concerns  us  has  to  do  with 
the  character  of  the  reporter  of  the  supposed  conver- 
sation of  1775.  Who,  then,  was  Samuel  Blodget,  Jr.? 
He  was  born  at  Goffstown,  New  Hampshire,  August 
28,  1757.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  entered  the  army 
as  a  captain  of  militia  and  resigned  his  commission  a 
year  later.  He  went  into  business  at  Exeter  and  failed ; 
removed  to  Boston  to  engage  in  the  East  India  Trade 
and  succeeded.  He  came  to  Philadelphia  in  1789,  or- 
ganized a  tontine  association,  and,  when  that  was 
succeeded  by  the  Insurance  Company  of  North  Amer- 
ica, with  a  capital  stock  of  $600,000,  he  became  a  mem- 
ber of  its  first  Board  of  Directors.     About  this  time 

"Works  of  Alexander  Hamilton,  Vol.  VI.  pp.  149,  150. 
7 


184  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

he  began  to  speculate  in  real  estate  in  the  new  city  of 
Washington.  Early  in  1793  he  was  appointed  super- 
intendent of  the  Capital  under  the  Commissioners  of 
the  District  of  Columbia.  Although  he  was  retained 
in  the  office  only  one  year,  the  letter,  informing  him  of 
his  dismissal,  expresses  appreciation  of  his  services  by 
the  Commission.  But  it  also  intimates  that  his  private 
interests  and  particularly  his  absorption  in  a  lottery 
at  Washington  do  not  permit  him  to  give  sufficient 
attention  to  his  duties  as  superintendent.  The  several 
lotteries  promoted  by  him  (which  we  must  remember, 
implied  nothing  censurable  in  those  days)  turned  out 
unfortunately,  and  in  the  course  of  several  years  he 
became  bankrupt.  But  this  was  only  the  beginning  of 
the  maze  through  which  he  was  to  wander.  Impris- 
oned for  debt  in  1802,  he  was  allowed  to  walk  in  the 
"prison  bounds"  for  the  preservation  of  his  health  un- 
der a  bond  of  $10,0CX),  furnished  by  Dr.  William  Thorn- 
ton, an  associate  in  some  of  his  financial  ventures. 
Either  his  constitution  required  more  exercise  than 
the  prison  bounds  permitted,  or  he  forgot  his  obli- 
gation. At  any  rate  he  disappeared  and  Dr.  Thornton 
made  good  his  surety. 

It  is  said  that  even  in  prison  he  plied  his  vocation 
of  soliciting  five-dollar  contributions  for  a  national 
university  and  for  an  equestrian  statue  of  Washington. 
By  and  by  he  reappeared  and  continued  to  solicit.    His 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  185 

aim  was  to  raise  a  fund  to  which  the  whole  people  of 
America  might  contribute,  "thus/'  to  use  his  own 
words,  ''virtually  following  an  ancient  custom  of  the 
original  Americans,  when  men,  women  and  children, 
all  carried  a  stone  to  the  monumental  pile  of  a  beloved 
chief."^  By  1806  he  claimed  to  have  had  collected 
thirty  thousand  dollars.  What  disposition  was  made 
of  this  money  no  one  knows.  At  various  times  re- 
quests for  information  about  the  fund  and  the  state  of 
his  accounts  were  inserted  in  the  newspapers,  prob- 
ably by  contributors.  So  far  as  known  he  never  made 
any  reply.  His  latter  years  were  passed  in  complete 
obscurity  and  his  death  occurred  in  1814  in  a  hospital 
in  Baltimore.  But  this  was  not  yet  the  end  of  Blodget. 
For  Mrs.  Blodget's  attorney  promptly  informed  the 
purchasers  of  his  Washington  property  (which  had 
been  sold  to  make  good  his  losses)  that  all  of  it  was 
liable  for  dower.  The  United  States  had  bought  some 
of  this  property  for  the  use  of  the  Post-Office  Depart- 
ment and  so  it  came  about  that  the  Government  settled 
an  annuity  of  $333.33  on  the  widow  in  satisfaction  of 
her  claim. 

Before  his  appointment  as  superintendent  of  the 
Capital,  President  Washington  made  inquiry  of  one  of 
the  Commissioners  as  to  Blodget's  character,  asking 
whether  he  were  "a  man  of  industry,  arrangement  and 

"^  Economica,  Appendix,  p.  xii. 


186  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

integrity"  and  adding  that  ''he  had  only  a  slight  ac- 
quaintance with  him".  By  the  time  his  year  of  service 
had  expired  the  acquaintance  had  become  more  ex- 
tensive and  he  said  that  Blodget's  service  was  unsatis- 
factory, that  speculation  was  his  object,  and  the  cause 
of  conduct  "so  different  from  that  expected  of  a  super- 
intendent." To  Jefiferson,  Washington  wrote,  "I  wish 
you   may   have   yet   seen   the   worst   features   of   Mr 

Blodget's  conduct Little  confidence  I   fear  is 

placed  in  Mr.  Blodget  and  least  where  he  is  best 
known."®  The  Commissioners  also  said  soon  after  his 
dismissal,  "Unhappily  we  have  to  do  with  a  man  who 
has  lost  our  confidence.  Instead  of  certainty  we  have 
to  guess  at  the  state  of  things."^ 

The  facts  seem  to  be  that  he  was  a  man  of  enthu- 
siasms and  idealisms,  but  lacking  judgment.  His  wri- 
tings   are    discursive,^®    ill-arranged,    and    abound    in 

'  Ford,  Writings  of  Washington. 

•Commissioners'  Letter  Book,  April  23,  1794.  This  quo- 
tation is  taken  from  Bryan,  History  of  the  National  Capital. 

'*•  Blodget  wrote:  "Thoughts  on  the  Increasing  Wealth 
and  National  Economy  of  the  United  States  of  America." 
Washington,  Way  and  Gofif,  printers.  1801;  and  also  Econom- 
ica,  A  Statistical  Manual  for  the  United  States  of  America; 
Washington  (printed  for  the  author),  1806.  These  two  pub- 
lications were  bound  in  one  volume  after  the  publication  of 
the  Economica.  There  is  a  copy  in  the  Library  of  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania.  Blodget  has  been  given  the 
credit  for  being  the  first  American  writer  on  economics. 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  187 

broad  and  unwarranted  generalizations.  In  a  word  he 
was  a  promoter.  Whatever  may  be  the  truth  about 
his  early  life,  his  later  career  seems  to  justify  the  en- 
try in  the  Journal  of  Latrobe,  that  he  was  *'one  of  the 
adventurers  and  swindlers  whom  the  establishment 
of  the  cit}^  brought  hither. ^^ 

It  is  strange  that  none  of  the  writers  on  the  liter- 
ature, bearing  on  a  national  university,  who  have  re- 
peated the  passage  from  Blodget's  Economica,  has  ex- 
pressed any  doubt  as  to  its  probability.  Dr.  Hoyt, 
however,  took  the  trouble  to  read  the  Economica  and 
calls  attention  to  the  following  passage  :^^  "It  would 
be  an  endless  task,  and  require  volumes  to  hold  all  that 
has  been  written  in  favor  of  a  federal  heart  and  uni- 
versity, in  our  periodical  papers,  since  1775.  We  shall 
select  only  a  few."  Dr.  Hoyt  quotes  these  selections, 
but  he  does  not  notice  the  significant  fact  that  the 
earliest  of  them  is  dated  September,  1787  and  not  1775. 
If  there  were  so  many  of  these  very  early  documents 
to  select  from,  why  did  Mr.  Blodget  not  select  at  least 
one?  So  far  as  the  writer  knows  Benjamin  Rush  made 
the  earliest  proposal  for  the  establishment  of  a  nation- 

"  Journal  of  Latrobe.  Quoted  by  Bryan,  History  of  the 
National  Capital. 

"  Hoyt,  Memorial  on  a  National  University,  p.  29.  The 
quotations  referred  to  stand  at  p.  iv  et  seq.,  Appendix  to 
Blodget's  Economica. 


188  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

al  university. ^^  This  was  published  in  the  American 
Museum  (Philadelphia)  in  January,  1787.  The  ar- 
ticle in  which  the  proposal  was  made  is  reprinted  on 
page  198. 

3.    OTHER  EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS 

The  most  elaborate  of  Dr.  Rush's  educational  es- 
says is  the  one  entitled,  ''Observations  on  the  Study  of 
the  Latin  and  Greek  Languages."^*  In  opening  the  sub- 
ject he  refers  to  the  ''universal  prejudice"  in  favor  of 
classical  studies.  'Tt  requires,"  he  says,  "the  recollec- 
tion of  escapes  from  a  lion  and  a  bear,  to  encounter  the 
strong  and  universal  prejudice,  in  favor  of  the  Latin 
and  Greek  languages  as  a  necessary  branch  of  liberal 

"  The  most  complete  bibliography  on  the  proposals 
for  a  National  University  is  that  prepared  by  Dr.  Hoyt.  The 
full  title  and  reference  are  given  in  a  note  on  page  179.  The 
only  additional  title  I  have  been  able  to  find  after  consider- 
able search  is  an  article  calle-d  "An  Essay  on  the  Means  of 
Promoting  Federal  Sentiments  in  the  United  States,  by  a 
Foreign  Spectator."  This  essay  is  printed  in  instalments  in 
the?  Independent  Gazeteer  (Philadelphia)  for  1787.  The 
issue  of  Seipt.  23,  No.  548,  and  the  following  issue,  No.  550. 
have  an  extended  notice  of  the  National  University  idea. 
Reference  is  made  to  Rush's  article  on  the  subject.  Exten- 
sive research  would  no  doubt  reveal  other  early  references 
to  the?  subject. 

"  In  this  outline  many  of  Dr.  Rush's  arguments  are 
transposed,  some  are  omitted  and  all  of  them  are  greatly 
abridged.  I  have,  however,  tried  to  give  a  fair,  although 
succinct  account  of  his  position. 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  189 

education.  If,  in  combating  this  formidable  enemy  of 
human  reason,  I  should  be  less  successful  than  the 
Hebrew  stripling  was  in  contending  with  the  giant  of 
the  Philistines,  I  hope  it  will  be  ascribed  wholly  to  the 
want  of  skill  to  direct  arguments,  which,  in  other 
hands,  would  lay  this  tyrant  in  the  dust." 

He  begins  the  argument  by  reaffirming  the  Comen- 
ian  dictum  that  things  should  be  studied  before  words. 
He  goes  further.  The  acquisition  of  words,  he  says, 
lessens  the  ability  to  acquire  ideas.  Of  course,  he  does 
not  prove  the  assertion.    Nor  does  he  attempt  to  do  so. 

But  he  reaches  surer  ground,  when  he  points  to  the 
difficulty  that  many  boys  find  in  learning  languages. 
This  causes  a  lack  of  pleasure — of  interest — in  learn- 
ing in  general,  and  is  a  chief  hindrance  to  study.  Many 
boys  leave  school  because  they  do  not  care  for  the 
things  taught  there.  The  ability  to  acquire  readily  a 
good  knowledge  of  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages  is 
made  the  test  of  genius.  Those  who  do  not  care  for 
these  languages  are  considered  stupid.  But  this  gen- 
eralization, Rush  declares,  is  frequently  unsound.  In 
fact,  it  is  sometimes  the  very  reverse  of  the  truth. 
Men  of  strong  minds  refuse  to  be  satisfied  with  words, 
"the  mere  husks  of  literature". 

He  next  attacks  the  classics  on  the  basis  of  their 
content.  They  contain  accounts  of  "indelicate  amours 
and  shocking  vices  both  of  gods  and  men."    There  is 


190  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

no  need  for  understanding  the  allusions  in  the  Eng- 
lish classics  to  Greek  and  Roman  mythology.  It  were 
better  not  to  understand  them. 

But  the  continued  use  of  the  Latin  and  Greek  is 
a  mistake  even  when  the  content  is  the  most  useful 
in  the  world.  For  the  fact  that  the  information  they 
carry  is  locked  up  in  the  vocabulary  and  syntax  of 
several  dead  languages  renders  it  inaccessible  to  many 
people  who  would  wish  to  benefit  by  it.  The  contin- 
ued teaching  of  Latin  and  Greek  is  therefore  an  un- 
democratic process ;  it  militates  against  the  spread  of 
science  and  true  culture.  Further  it  is  undemocratic  in 
that  it  excludes  many  boys  from  school ;  that  is,  it  en- 
courages an  aristocracy  of  learning. 

The  dropping  of  Latin  and  Greek  from  the  curricu- 
la of  schools  and  colleges  would  remove  the  prejudices 
of  many  common  people  against  those  institutions,  he 
thinks.  And  he  forgets,  for  the  moment  that  the 
school  has  for  one  of  its  main  objects  the  raising  of 
the  educational  standards  of  the  common  people. 

That  a  knowledge  of  the  Latin  grammar  should  be 
regarded  as  necessary  for  the  understanding  of  the 
structure  of  the  English  language,  he  considers  ridicu- 
lous. And  so,  also,  is  to  his  mind  the  notion  that  the 
Latin  and  Greek  furnish  the  only  models  of  taste  and 
eloquence.  Nor  is  a  knowledge  of  the  vocabularies  of 
these  languages  necessary  to  give  us  a  knowledge  of 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  191 

their  many  derivatives  in  the  English.  Indeed,  he  sug- 
gests that  on  the  same  basis  it  would  be  necessary  to 
know  Celtic,  Saxon,  German  and  what-not,  in  order  to 
understand  English.  He  admits  nothing  about  the 
vast  differences  in  the  proportions  of  our  borrowings. 

Is  there,  then,  no  place  at  all  for  the  study  of  Latin 
and  Greek?  Yes,  but  it  is  a  study  for  specialists.  The 
average  liberally  educated  man — the  lawyer,  the  doc- 
tor, the  divine — can  find  in  translations,  made  by  spe- 
cialists, all  that  is  of  value  in  the  classical  writers. 

The  essay,  however,  is  not  wholly  destructive.  It 
suggests  what  should  form  the  content  of  a  liberal 
education  as  well  as  what  should  not  do  so.  Dr.  Rush 
would  have  students  begin  with  English,  taught  with- 
out the  grammar  at  first.  At  the  same  time  and  later 
should  come  geography,  natural  history,  arithmetic, 
French  and  German.  In  connection  with  the  last  sug- 
gestion he  makes  an  amusing  recommendation.  He 
thinks  children  should  not  learn  to  speak  any  foreign 
languages  before  the  age  of  twelve  lest  they  acquire 
a  foreign  accent. 

The  secondary  and  advanced  courses  to  be  pursued 
between  the  ages  of  fourteen  and  eighteen  are  largely 
scientific  and  practical.  They  are  less  extensive  in 
scope  but  similar  in  type  to  the  curricula  that  have 
already  been  noticed  in  the  account  of  his  proposal  for 
a  national  university. 


192  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

Another  essay  that  should  be  briefly  noticed  is 
called  "Thoughts  on  Amusements  and  Punishments 
Proper  for  Schools."  For  amusements  he  suggests 
opportunity  for  exercise,  in  agricultural  work,  and  in 
the  mechanic  arts.  These,  he  thinks,  would  take  the 
place  of  games  to  a  considerable  degree.  He  urges  not 
only  the  recreation  but  the  opportunity  for  self-sup- 
port that  is  afforded  the  student  by  such  manual  exer- 
cises. And  he  instances  "the  Methodist  College  at 
Abington,  in  Maryland",  where,  he  says,  enthusiastic 
work  was  being  done  at  this  time  along  this  line,  par- 
ticularly in  agriculture.  One  may,  therefore,  claim 
for  Dr.  Rush  that  he  was  one  of  the  prophets  of  the 
Manual  Labor  Movement  that  at  one  time  spread  over 
America. 

He  also  emphasizes  the  need  for  movement  in  chil- 
dren. It  is  cruel  to  make  children  sit  quietly,  as  was 
being  done,  sometimes  for  seven  hours  in  one  day. 
Fresh  air  also  should  be  supplied  in  abundance.  These 
suggestions  which  he  makes  in  passing  are  in  line  with 
the  great  development  in  school  hygiene  and  medical 
inspection  which  the  last  century  has  witnessed. 

Turning  now  to  punishments  "proper  for  schools" 
he  makes  the  point  that  punishments  of  all  kinds  are 
becoming  less  severe.  "But  this  spirit  of  humanity 
and  civilization  has  not  reached  our  schools.  The  rod 
is  yet  the  principal  instrument  of  governing  them,  and 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  193 

a  schoolmaster  remains  the  only  despot  now  known 
in  free  countries  "  Corporal  punishment  he  condemns 
as  useless,  unnecessary  and  brutal.  Besides  that  the 
same  punishments  are  meted  out  indiscriminately  for 
ignorance  and  for  immorality,  as  is  often  done,  con- 
fuses the  moral  sense  of  boys.  Those  who  will  not 
respond  to  rational  appeals  should  be  dismissed.  But 
he  offers  no  advice  as  to  the  education  of  incorrigibles. 
It  should  also  be  said,  that  one,  at  least,  of  the 
punishments  that  Dr.  Rush  recommends,  is  fully  as 
bad  as  those  he  condemns.  He  says  that  the  "holding 
of  a  small  sign  of  disgrace"  is  a  "proper  punishment". 

In  the  essay  on  the  "Bible  as  a  School  Book"  he 
emphasizes  the  need  for  early  and  definite  religious 
and  moral  training.  The  Bible  is  the  best  book  for 
this  purpose  and  should  therefore  be  read.  He  com- 
mends the  practice  of  the  Sunday  Schools  in  England 
where  the  Bible  only,  is  read  and  says  the  same  prac- 
tice is  being  followed  in  America  where  Sunday 
Schools  have  only  recently  been  established.^^    But  he 

"  Robert  Raikes  seems  to  have  established  his  first  Sun- 
day school  in  1780  in  Sooty  Alley  in  Gloucester,  England. 
But  there  were  other  Sunday  Schools  earlier,  established  by 
the  Methodists  and  others.  The  above  essay  was  written  in 
1791.  It  was  in  that  year  that  the  "First  Day  or  Sunday  School 
Society"  was  organized  in  Philadelphia,  an  organization  that 
was  later  (1823)  with  other  organizations  merged  in  the 
"American    Sunda}^    School    Union".     The    statement    in    the 


194  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

offers  no  suggestions  of  value  in  the  solution  of  the 
present-day  problems  concerning  moral  and  religious 
education  in  the  American  public  schools. 

4.    SUMMARY   OF   DR.    RUSH'S    EDUCATIONAL 
POSITIONS 

Dr.  Rush  was  for  nearly  forty  years  a  teacher  of 
Chemistry  and  of  Medicine  in  Philadelphia.  He  was 
one  of  the  leading  founders  and  has  been  called  the 
"father"  of  Dickinson  College.  These  matters  have 
already  been  discussed  at  length.  In  the  following 
paragraphs  the  attempt  is  made  to  recapitulate  rather 
his  educational  theory  than  to  restate  his  educational 
practice. 

In  summing  up  Dr.  Rush's  educational  positions 
one  naturally  thinks  first  of  his  plea  for  preparation 
for  citizenship  in  a  democracy.  Educate  our  citizens  so 
as  to  ensure  the  progress  and  even  the  safety  of  the 
state.  This  was  his  most  persistent  injunction.  It  is 
when  he  speaks  upon  education  for  democracy  that 
he  becomes  most  eloquent.  In  fact,  as  often  happens 
with  him,  he  carried  his  doctrine  to  the  extreme.  "The 
benefits  of  free  schools  should  not  be  overlooked.  In- 
deed, suffrage,  in  my  opinion,  should  never  be  per- 

text  follows  Dr.  Rush  and  takes  no  account  of  the  Sunday 
Schools  in  Ephrata,  Pa.,  and  elsewhere  in  America.  These 
were  much  earlier. 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  195 

mitted  to  a  man  that  could  not  write  or  read,"  he  wrote 
to  John  Adams/^    He  was,  therefore,  an  advocate  of 
universal  education.     But  his  idea  was  not  altogether 
that  of  our  public  school.     He  wished  to  see  the  ele- 
ments  of  education   made   accessible   to   every   child. 
The  best  instrument  for  this  purpose  was  conceived 
by  him  to  be  a  kind  of  public  parochial  schools  as  we 
might  today  regard  them.     The  schools  were  to  be 
parochial  in  organization  and  to  be  controlled  there- 
fore by  the  various  religious  bodies.    But  they  were  to 
be  supported  by  taxation  laid  by  the  state.    The  funds 
were  to  be  distributed  according  to    the    numerical 
strength  of  the   various   denominations.     It   did   not 
occur  to  Rush,  apparently,  that  a  small  congregation 
would  under  this  plan  have  but  poor  schools.     He  is 
not  always  consistent  as  to  making  the  schools  abso- 
lutely free  but  on  the  whole  his  voice  seems  to  be 
against   the  proposition.     At  any  rate,   the   "school- 
masters" were  to  be  paid  much  or  little,  according  as 
they  taught  many  or  few  pupils. 

He  favored  the  education  of  women,  but,  as  we 
shall  see,  he  said  nothing  original  on  the  subject. ^^ 
He  even  aided  woman's  education  somewhat  in  a 
practical  way.     He  wrote  a  syllabus  of  a  course  of 

"Works  of  John  Adams.     By  C.  F.  Adams,  Boston,  1854. 
See  Vol.  IX,  p.  639,  for  Adams'  reply. 

"See  page  226. 


196  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

lectures  in  domestic  chemistry  and  probably  also  de- 
livered the  lectures  in  Mr.  Andrew  Brown's  Young 
Ladies'  Academy,  Philadelphia/^ 

Not  only  did  Dr.  Rush  urge  education  for  dernoc- 
racy;  he  also  contended  for  democrary  in  education. 
The  business  of  education  should  be  conducted,  in  the 
language  of  the  common  people,  he  held.  The  fact 
that  a  boy  did  not  care  for  Latin  and  Greek,  or  that 
he  had  not  studied  them  for  lack  of  opportunity  ought 
not  to  bar  him  from  such  education  as  he  could  obtain 
and  for  which  he  did  care.  This  position,  like  the 
former  one,  has  important  consequences.  It  implied 
the  introduction  of  the  sciences  into  the  curriculum. 
Dr.  Rush  was,  in  this  matter,  distinctly  modern  and 
practical  in  his  educational  ideals.  Nearly  his  entire 
working  life  was  devoted  to  the  furtherance  of  science, 
chiefly  medical  science.  Benjamin  Franklin  and 
Thomas  Jefferson  and  Benjamin  Rush  are  the  three 
great  exponents  of  the  scientific  and  broadly  utilita- 
rian tendencies  in  American  education  in  the  eight- 
eenth and  early  nineteenth  centuries. 

Dr.  Rush  strongly  and  constantly  urged  moral  and 
religious  training  in   the   schools.     His   solution   was 

"  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  any  confirmation  of  the 
statement  that  he  founded  a  girls'  school  at  Philadelphia  in 
1780.  See  Brown's  Making  of  our  Middle,  Schools,  p.  253, 
2nd  edition. 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  197 

the  semi-parochial  school.  It  has  not  worked  out  that 
way  in  our  history.  In  fact,  the  problem  is  still  with 
us,  and  its  solution  is  much  more  pressing  now  than 
it  was  in  Dr.  Rush's  generation. 

He  stood  for  a  discipline,  not  only  milder  than  the 
old,  but  one  that  would  be  regarded  as  sane  and  fairly 
correct  in  our  day.  And  here  the  course  of  evolution 
has  followed  the  trail  he  helped  to  blaze.  He  would 
not  now  call  the  schoolmaster  "the  only  remaining 
despot  in  free  countries". 

Most  important  of  Dr.  Rush's  educational  services 
was  his  championship  of  a  worthy  standard  in  higher 
education.  To  be  sure,  neither  of  the  two  colleges  of 
which  he  was  a  Trustee,  attained  very  high  standards 
during  his  life  time.  But  that  was  due  to  causes  be- 
yond his  control.  His  face  was  always  toward  the 
light.  He  helped  vastl}^  to  improve  the  medical  edu- 
cation of  his  generation.  He  urged  the  establishment 
of  technical  schools,  particularly  a  veterinary  school. 
A  national  university  worked  out  on  the  lines  he  laid 
down  would  have  been  ahead  of  Edinburgh  and  Ge- 
neva, "the  two  eyes  of  Europe",  as  Jefferson  calls 
them.  Dr.  Rush's  best  claim  to  distinction  as  an  edu* 
cator  is  to  be  based  on  his  labors  for  a  better  American 
College  and  a  real  American  University. 


198  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

SELECTIONS 

1.    ADDRESS  TO  THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  UNITED 

STATES" 

There  is  nothing  more  common,  than  to  confound 
the  terms  of  American  revolution  with  those  of  the 
late  American  war.  The  American  war  is  over;  but 
this  is  far  from  being  the  case  with  the  American  revo- 
lution. On  the  contrary,  nothing  but  the  first  act  of 
the  great  drama  is  closed.  It  remains  yet  to  establish 
and  perfect  our  new  forms  of  government,  and  to  pre- 
pare the  principles,  morals,  and  manners  of  our  citi- 
zens, for  these  forms  of  government,  after  they  are 
established  and  brought  to  perfection. 

The  Confederation,  together  with  most  of  our  State 
constitutions,  were  formed  under  very  unfavorable  cir- 
cumstances. We  had  just  emerged  from  a  corrupted 
monarchy.  Although  we  understood  perfectly  the 
principles  of  liberty,  yet  most  of  us  were  ignorant  of 
the  forms  and  combinations  of  power  in  republics. 
Add  to  this,  the  British  army  was  in  the  heart  of  our 
country,  spreading  desolation  wherever  it  went:  our 
resentments,  of  course,  were  awakened.    We  detested 

"  H.  Niles,  Principles  and  Acts  of  the  Revolution  in 
America,  etc..  Baltimore,  1822,  pp.  402-404.  Although  most 
of  the  address  does  not  treat  of  eiducation  directly,  it  is  in 
Rush's  best  vein  and  so  interesting  historically  that  it  seemed 
best  not  to  abridge.  This  article  and  the  following  were 
both  reprinted  by  Dr.  Goode,  see  p.  179  note. 


EDUCATIONAL   WRITINGS  199 

the  British  name,  and  unfortunately  refused  to  copy 
some  things  in  the  administration  of  justice  and  power, 
in  the  British  government,  which  have  made  it  the 
admiration  and  envy  of  the  world.  In  our  opposition 
to  monarchy,  we  forgot  that  the  temple  of  tyranny  has 
two  doors.  We  bolted  one  of  them  by  proper  re- 
straints ;  but  we  left  the  other  open,  by  neglecting  to 
guard  against  the  effects  of  our  own  ignorance  and 
licentiousness. 

Most  of  the  present  diffijculties  of  this  country  arise 
from  the  weakness  and  other  defects  of  our  govern- 
ments. 

My  business  at  present  shall  be  only  to  suggest 
the  defects  of  the  confederation.  These  consist — 1st. 
In  the  deficiency  of  coercive  power.  2nd.  In  a  defect 
of  exclusive  power  to  issue  paper  money,  and  regulate 
commerce.  3rd.  In  vesting  the  sovereign  power  of  the 
United  States  in  a  single  legislature ;  and  4th.  In  the 
too  frequent  rotation  of  its  members. 

A  convention  is  to  sit  soon  for  the  purpose  of  de- 
vising means  of  obviating  part  of  the  two  first  defects 
that  have  been  mentioned.  But  I  wish  they  may  add  to 
their  recommendations  to  each  state,  to  surrender  up 
to  congress  their  power  of  emitting  money.  In  this 
way,  a  uniform  currency  will  be  produced,  that  will 
facilitate  trade,  and  help  to  bind  the  states  together. 
Nor  will  the  states  be  deprived  of  large  sums  of  money 


200  BENJAMIN   RUSH 

by  this  mean,  when  sudden  emergencies  require  it ; 
for  they  may  always  borrow  them,  as  they  did  during 
the  war,  out  of  the  treasury  of  congress.  Even  a  loan 
office  may  be  better  instituted  in  this  way,  in  each 
state,  than  in  any  other. 

The  two  last  defects  that  have  been  mentioned,  are 
not  of  less  magnitude  than  the  first.  Indeed,  the  sin- 
gle legislature  of  congress  will  become  more  danger- 
ous, from  an  increase  of  power,  than  ever.  To  remedy 
this,  let  the  supreme  federal  power  be  divided,  like  the 
legislature  of  most  of  our  states,  into  two  distinct,  in- 
dependent branches.  Let  one  of  them  be  styled  the 
council  of  states  and  the  other  the  assembly  of  states. 
Let  the  first  consist  of  a  single  delegate — and  the  sec- 
ond, of  two,  three,  or  four  delegates,  chosen  annually 
— by  each  state.  Let  the  president  be  chosen  annually 
by  the  joint  ballot  of  both  houses ;  and  let  him  pos- 
sess certain  powers,  in  conjunction  with  a  privy  coun- 
cil, especially  the  power  of  appointing  most  of  the 
officers  of  the  United  States.  The  officers  will  not 
only  be  better,  when  appointed  in  this  way,  but  one  of 
the  principal  causes  of  faction  will  be  thereby  removed 
from  congress.  I  apprehend  this  division  of  the  power 
of  congress  will  become  more  necessary,  as  soon  as 
they  are  invested  with  more  ample  powers  of  levying 
and  expending  money. 

The  custom  of  turning  men  out  of  power  or  office, 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  201 

as  soon  as  they  are  qualified  for  it,  has  been  found  to 
be  as  absurd  in  practice,  as  it  is  vicious  [to]  dis- 
miss a  general  —  a  physician  — :  or  even  a  domestic, 
as  soon  as  they  have  acquired  knowledge  sufficient 
to  be  useful  to  us,  for  the  sake  of  increasing  the 
number  of  able  generals  —  skilful  physicians  —  and 
faithful  servants.  We  do  not.-°  Government  is  a 
science,  and  can  never  be  perfect  in  America,  until  we 
encourage  men  to  devote  not  only  three  years,  but 
their  whole  lives  to  it.  I  believe  the  principal  reason 
why  so  many  men  of  abilities  object  to  serving  in  con- 
gress, is  owing  to  their  not  thinking  it  worth  while  to 
spend  three  years  in  acquiring  a  profession,  which 
their  country  immediately  forbids  them  to  follow. 

There  are  two  errors  or  prejudices  on  the  subject 
of  government  in  America,  which  lead  to  the  most 
dangerous  consequences. 

It  is  often  said,  "that  the  sovereign  and  all  other 
power  is  seated  in  the  people."  This  idea  is  unhappily 
expressed.  It  should  be — "all  power  is  derived  from 
the  people,"  they  possess  it  only  on  the  days  of  their 
elections.  After  this,  it  is  the  property  of  their  rulers ; 
nor  can  they  exercise  or  resume  it,  unless  it  be  abused. 
It  is  of  importance  to  circulate  this  idea,  as  it  leads  to 
order  and  good  government. 

^  Printed  thus  in  Niles  (p.  403)   either  through  printer's 
error  or  through  lack  of  revision  by  the  author. 


202  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

The  people  of  America  have  mistaken  the  meaning 
of  the  word  sovereignty :  hence  each  state  pretends 
to  be  sovereign.  In  Europe  it  is  applied  only  to  those 
states  which  possess  the  power  of  making  war  and 
peace — of  forming  treaties,  and  the  like.  As  this  power 
belongs  only  to  congress,  they  are  the  only  sovereign 
power  in  the  United  States. 

We  commit  a  similar  mistake  in  our  ideas  of  the 
word  independent.  No  individual  state,  as  such,  has 
any  claim  to  independence.  She  is  independent  only 
in  a  union  with  her  sister  states  in  congress. 

To  conform  the  principles,  morals  and  manners  of 
our  citizens,  to  our  republican  forms  of  government, 
it  is  absolutely  necessary,  that  knowledge  of  every 
kind  should  be  disseminated  through  every  part  of 
the  United  States. 

For  this  purpose,  let  congress,  instead  of  laying  out 
half  a  million  dollars,  in  building  a  federal  town,  ap- 
propriate only  a  fourth  of  that  sum,  in  founding  a  fed- 
eral university.  In  this  university,  let  everything  con- 
nected with  government,  such  as  history — the  law  of 
nature  and  nations — the  civil  law — the  municipal  laws 
of  our  country — and  the  principles  of  commerce — be 
taught  by  competent  professors.  Let  masters  be  em- 
ployed, likewise,  to  teach  gunnery — fortification — and 
everything  connected  with  defensive  and  offensive 
war.     Above  all,  let  a  professor  of,  what  is  called  in 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  203 

European  universities,  economy,  be  established  in  this 
federal  seminary.  His  business  should  be  to  unfold 
the  principles  and  practice  of  agriculture  and  manu- 
factures of  all  kinds,  and  to  enable  him  to  make  his 
lectures  more  extensively  useful,  congress  should  sup- 
port a  traveling  correspondent  for  him,  who  should 
visit  all  the  nations  of  Europe,  and  transmit  to  him, 
from  time  to  time,  all  the  discoveries  and  improve- 
ments that  are  made  in  agriculture  and  manufactures. 
To  this  seminary,  young  men  should  be  encouraged  to 
repair,  after  completing  their  academical  studies  in  the 
colleges  of  their  respective  states.  The  honours  and 
offices  of  the  United  States  should,  after  a  while,  be 
confined  to  persons  who  had  imbibed  federal  and  re- 
publican ideas  in  this  university. 

For  the  purpose  of  diffusing  knowledge,  as  well 
as  extending  the  living  principle  of  government  to 
every  part  of  the  United  States- — every  state — city — 
county — village — and  township  in  the  union,  should  be 
tied  together  by  means  of  the  post  office.  This  is  the 
true  non-electric  wire  of  government.  It  is  the  only 
means  of  conveying  heat  and  light  to  every  individual 
in  the  federal  commonwealth.  "Sweden  lost  her  liber- 
ties," says  the  abbe  Raynal,  "because  her  citizens  were 
so  scattered,  that  they  had  no  means  of  acting  in  con- 
cert with  each  other."  It  should  be  a  constant  injunc- 
tion to  the  post-masters,  to  convey  newspapers  free  of 


204  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

all  charge  for  postage.  They  are  not  only  the  ve- 
hicles'of  knowledge  and  intelligence,  but  the  centinels 
of  the  liberties  of  our  country. 

The  conduct  of  some  of  those  strangers,  who  have 
visited  our  country,  since  the  peace,  and  who  fill  the 
British  papers,  with  accounts  of  our  distresses,  shows 
as  great  a  want  of  good  sense,  as  it  does  of  good  na- 
ture. They  see  nothing  but  the  foundations  and  walls 
of  the  temple  of  liberty;  and  yet  they  undertake  to 
judge  of  the  whole  fabric.  Our  own  citizens  act  a 
still  more  absurd  part,  when  they  cry  out,  after  the 
experience  of  three  or  four  years,  that  we  are  not 
proper  materials  for  republican  government.  Remem- 
ber, we  assumed  these  forms  of  government  in  a  hurry, 
before  we  were  prepared  for  them.  Let  every  man 
exert  himself  in  promoting  virtue  and  knowledge  in  our 
country,  and  we  shall  soon  become  good  republicans. 
Look  at  the  steps  by  which  governments  have  been 
changed,  or  rendered  stable  in  Europe.  Read  the  his- 
tory of  Great  Britain.  Her  boasted  government  has 
risen  out  of  wars,  and  rebellions,  that  lasted  above  six 
hundred  years.  The  United  States  are  traveling  peace- 
ably into  order  and  good  government.  They  know  no 
strife — but  what  arises  from  the  collision  of  opinions : 
and;  in  three  years,  they  have  advanced  farther  in  the 
road  to  stability  and  happiness,  than  most  of  the  na- 
tions in  Europe  have  done,  in  as  many  centuries. 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  205 

There  is  but  one  path  that  can  lead  the  United 
States  to  destruction ;  and  that  is,  their  extent  of 
territory.  It  was  probabl}^  to  effect  this,  that  Great 
Britain  ceded  to  us  so  much  waste  land.  But  even  this 
path  may  be  avoided.  Let  but  one  new  state  be  ex- 
posed to  sale  at  a  time ;  and  let  the  land  office  be  shut 
up,  till  every  part  of  this  new  state  be  settled. 

I  am  extremely  sorry  to  find  a  passion  for  retire- 
ment so  universal  among  patriots  and  heroes  of  the 
war.  They  resemble  skilful  mariners  who,  after  exeit- 
ing  themselves  to  preserve  a  ship  from  sinking  in  a 
storm,  in  the  middle  of  the  ocean,  drop  asleep,  as  suon 
as  the  waves  subside,  and  leave  the  care  of  their  lives 
and  property,  during  the  remainder  of  the  voyage,  to 
sailors,  without  knowledge  or  experience.  Every  man 
in  a  republic  is  public  property.  His  time  and  talents 
— his  youth — his  manhood — his  old  age — nay  more, 
his  life,  his  all,  belong  to  his  country. 

Patriots  of  1774,  1775,  1776— heroes  of  1778,  1779, 
1780,  come  forward !  Your  country  demands  your 
services ! — Philosophers  and  friends  to  mankind,  come 
forward !  Your  country  demands  your  studies  and 
speculations  !  Lovers  of  peace  and  order,  who  declined 
taking  part  in  the  late  war,  come  forward !  your  coun- 
try forgives  your  timidity  and  demands  5^our  influence 
and  advice !  Hear  her  proclaiming,  in  sighs  and  groans, 
in  her  governments,  in  her  finances,  in  her  trade,  in 


206  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

her  manufactures,  in  her  morals,  and  in  her  manners, 
"The  Revolution  is  not  Over!" 

2.    PLAN  OF  A  FEDERAL  UNIVERSITY 

"Your  government  cannot  be  executed.  It  is  too 
extensive  for  a  republic.  It  is  contrary  to  the  habits 
of  the  people,"  say  the  enemies  of  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States.  However  opposite  to  the  opinions 
and  wishes  of  a  majority  of  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States  these  declarations  and  predictions  may  be,  the 
latter  will  certainly  be  verified,  unless  the  people  are 
prepared  for  our  new  forms  of  government  by  an  edu- 
cation adapted  to  the  new  and  peculiar  situation  of 
our  country.  To  effect  this  great  and  necessary  work, 
let  one  of  the  first  acts  of  the  new  Congress  be,  to 
establish  within  the  district  to  be  allotted  for  them, 
a  federal  university,  into  which  the  youth  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  shall  be  received,  after  they  have  finished 
their  studies,  and  taken  their  degrees  in  the  colleges  of 
their  respective  states.  In  this  university,  let  those 
branches  of  literature  only  be  taught  which  are  calcu- 
lated to  prepare  our  youth  for  civil  and  public  life 
These  branches  should  be  taught  by  means  of  lectures, 
and  the  following  arts  and  sciences  should  be  the  sub- 
jects of  them : 

1.  The  principles  and  forms  of  government,  applied 
in  a  particular  manner  to  the  explanation  of  every 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  207 

part  of  the  constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States, 
together  with  the  laws  of  nature  and  nations,  which 
last  should  include  everything  that  relates  to  peace, 
war,  treaties,  ambassadors,  and  the  like. 

2.  History,  both  ancient  and  modern  and  chron- 
ology. 

3.  Agriculture,  in  all  its  numerous  and  extensive 
branches. 

4.  The  principles  and  practice  of  manufactures. 

5.  The  history,  principles  objects  and  channels  of 
commerce. 

6.  Those  parts  of  mathematics  which  are  neces- 
sary to  the  division  of  property,  to  finance,  and  to  the 
principles  and  practice  of  war:  for  there  is  too  much 
reason  to  fear  that  war  will  continue,  for  some  time  to 
come,  to  be  the  unchristian  mode  of  deciding  disputes 
between  Christian  nations. 

7.  Those  parts  of  natural  philosophy  and  chemis- 
try, which  admit  of  an  application  to  agriculture, 
manufactures,  commerce  and  war. 

8.  Natural  history,  which  includes  the  history  of 
animals,  vegetables  and  fossils.  To  render  instruction 
in  these  branches  of  science  easy,  it  will  be  necessary 
to  establish  a  museum,  as  also  a  garden,  in  which  not 
only  all  the  shrubs,  etc.,  but  all  the  forest  trees  of  the 
United  States,  should  be  cultivated.  The  great  Lin- 
naeus of  Upsal  enlarged  the  commerce  of  Sweden,  by 


208  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

his  discoveries  in  natural  history.  He  once  saved  the 
Swedish  navy  by  finding  out  the  time  in  which  a  worm 
laid  its  eggs,  and  recommending  the  immersion  of  the 
timber,  of  which  the  ships  were  built,  at  that  season 
wholly  under  water.  So  great  were  the  services  this 
naturalist  rendered  his  country,  by  the  application  of 
his  knowledge  to  agriculture,  manufactures,  and  com- 
merce, that  the  present  king  of  Sweden  pronounced  an 
eulogium  upon  him  from  the  throne  soon  after  his 
death. 

9.  Philology,  which  should  include  rhetoric,  and 
criticism,  lectures  upon  the  construction  and  pronun- 
ciation of  the  English  language.  Instruction  in  this 
branch  of  literature  will  become  the  more  necessary 
in  America,  as  our  intercourse  must  soon  cease  with 
the  bar,  the  stage  and  the  pulpits  of  Great  Britain  from 
whence  we  received  our  knowledge  of  the  pronuncia- 
tion of  the  English  language.  Even  modern  English 
books  should  cease  to  be  the  models  of  style  in  the 
United  States.  The  present  is  the  age  of  simplicity  of 
writing  in  America.  The  turgid  stile  of  Johnson — 
the  purple  glare  of  Gibbon — and  even  the  studied  and 
thick-set  metaphors  of  Junius,  are  all  equally  unnatur- 
al, and  should  not  be  admitted  into  our  country.  The 
cultivation  and  perfection  of  our  language  becomes  a 
matter  of  consequence,  when  viewed  in  another  light. 
It  will   probably   be   spoken   by  more  people,   in   the 


EDUCATIONAL   WRITINGS  209 

course  of  two  or  three  centuries,  than  ever  spoke  any 
one  language,  at  one  time,  since  the  creation  of  the 
world.  When  we  consider  the  influence,  which  the 
prevalence  of  only  two,  viz.  the  English  and  the  Span- 
ish, in  the  extensive  regions  of  North  and  South  Amer- 
ica, will  have  upon  the  manners,  commerce,  knowl- 
edge, and  civilization,  scenes  of  human  happiness,  and 
glory  open  before  us,  which  elude,  from  their  magni- 
tude, the  utmost  grasp  of  the  human  understanding. 

10.  The  German  and  French  languages  should  be 
taught  in  this  university.  The  many  excellent  books 
which  are  written  in  both  these  languages,  upon  all 
subjects,  more  especially  upon  those  which  relate  to 
the  advancement  of  national  improvements  of  all  kinds 
will  render  a  knowledge  of  them  an  essential  part  of 
the  education  of  a  legislator  of  the  United  States. 

11.  All  those  athletic  and  manly  exercises  should 
likewise  be  taught  in  the  university,  which  are  calcula- 
ted to  impart  health,  strength,  and  elegance  to  the 
human  body.  To  render  the  instruction  of  our  youth 
as  easy  and  as  extensive  as  possible,  in  several  of  the 
above  mentioned  branches  of  literature,  let  four  young 
men  of  good  education  and  active  minds  be  sent  abroad 
at  the  public  expense,  to  collect  and  transmit  to  the 
professors  of  the  said  branches,  all  the  improvements 
that  are  daily  made  in  Europe,  in  agriculture,  manu- 
factures  and   commerce,   and   in   the   art   of  war  and 


210  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

practical  government.  This  measure  is  rendered  the 
more  necessary  from  the  distance  of  the  United  States 
from  Europe,  by  which  means  the  rays  of  knowledge 
strike  the  United  States  so  partially,  that  they  can  be 
brought  to  a  useful  focus,  only  by  employing  suitable 
persons  to  collect  and  transmit  them  to  our  country. 
It  is  in  this  manner  that  the  northern  nations  of  Eu- 
rope have  imported  so  much  knowledge  from  their 
southern  neighbors,  that  the  history  of  agriculture, 
manufactures,  commerce,  revenues,  and  military  arts 
of  one  of  these  nations  will  soon  be  alike  applicable  to 
all  of  them. 

Besides  sending  four  young  men  abroad  to  collect 
and  transmit  knowledge  for  the  benefit  of  our  country, 
two  young  men  of  suitable  capacities  should  be  em- 
ployed at  the  public  expense,  in  exploring  the  vege- 
table, mineral,  and  animal  productions  of  our  country, 
in  procuring  histories  and  samples  of  each  of  them, 
and  in  transmitting  them  to  the  professor  of  natural 
history.  It  is  in  consequence  of  the  discoveries  made 
by  young  gentlemen  employed  for  these  purposes  that 
Sweden,  Denmark  and  Russia  have  extended  their 
manufactures  and  commerce,  so  as  to  rival,  in  both, 
the  oldest  nations  in  Europe. 

Let  Congress  allow  a  liberal  salary  to  the  principal 
of  this  university.  Let  it  be  his  business  to  govern 
the  students,  and  to  inspire  them  by  his  conversation, 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  211 

and  by  occasional  public  discourses,  with  federal  and 
patriotic  sentiments.  Let  this  principal  be  a  man  of 
extensive  education,  liberal  manners,  and  dignified 
deportment. 

Let  the  professors  of  each  of  the  branches  that 
have  been  mentioned  have  a  moderate  salary  of  £150 
or  £200  a  year,  and  let  them  depend  upon  the  number 
of  their  pupils  to  supply  the  deficiency  of  their  main- 
tenance from  their  salaries.  Let  each  pupil  pay  for 
each  course  of  lectures  two  or  three  guineas. 

Let  the  degrees  conferred  in  this  university,  re- 
ceive a  new  name,  that  shall  designate  the  design  of 
an  education  for  civil  and  public  life. 

In  thirty  years  after  this  university  is  established, 
let  an  act  of  Congress  be  passed,  to  prevent  any  per- 
son being  chosen  or  appointed  into  power  or  office, 
who  has  not  taken  a  degree  in  the  federal  university. 
We  require  certain  qualifications  in  lawyers,  physi- 
cians, and  clergymen,  before  we  commit  our  property, 
our  lives  or  our  souls  to  their  care.  We  even  refuse 
to  commit  the  charge  of  a  ship  to  a  pilot,  who  cannot 
produce  a  certificate  of  his  education  and  knowledge 
in  his  business.  Why  then  should  we  commit  our 
country,  which  includes  liberty,  property,  life,  wives 
and  children,  to  men  who  cannot  produce  vouchers  of 
their  qualifications  for  the  important  trust?  We  are 
restrained    from    injuring    ourselves,    by    employing 


212  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

quacks  in  law ;  why  should  we  not  be  restrained  in 
like  manner,  by  law,  from  employing  quacks  in  gov- 
ernment? 

Should  this  plan  of  a  federal  university  or  one  like 
it,  be  adopted,  then  will  begin  the  golden  age  of  the 
United  States.  While  the  business  of  education  in 
Europe  consists  in  lectures  upon  the  ruins  of  Palmyra, 
and  the  antiquities  of  Herculaneum,  or  in  disputes 
about  Hebrew  points,  Greek  particles,  or  the  accent 
and  quantity  of  the  Roman  language,  the  youth  of 
America  will  be  employed  in  acquiring  those  branches 
of  knowledge,  which  will  increase  the  conveniences  of 
life,  lessen  human  misery,  improve  our  country,  pro- 
mote population,  exalt  the  human  understanding,  and 
establish  domestic,  social  and  political  happiness. 

Let  it  not  be  said,  ''that  this  is  not  the  time  for  such 
a  literary  and  political  establishment.  Let  us  first  re- 
store public  credit,  by  funding  or  paying  our  debts,  let 
us  regulate  our  militia,  let  us  build  a  navy,  and  let  us 
protect  and  extend  our  commerce.  After  this  we  shall 
have  leisure  and  money  to  establish  a  university  for 
the  purposes  that  have  been  mentioned."  We  shall 
never  restore  public  credit,  regulate  our  militia,  build 
a  navy,  or  revive  our  commerce,  until  we  remove  the 
ignorance  and  prejudices,  and  change  the  habits  of 
our  citizens ;  and  this  can  never  be  done,  till  we  in- 
spire them  with  federal  principles,  which  can  only  be 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  213 

effected  by  our  young  men  meeting  and  spending  two 
or  three  years  together  in  a  national  university,  and 
afterwards  disseminating  their  knowledge  and  princi- 
ples through  every  county,  township  and  village  of 
the  United  States.  'Till  this  is  done,  senators  and  rep- 
resentatives of  the  United  States,  you  will  undertake 
to  make  bricks  without  straw.  Your  supposed  union 
in  Congress,  will  be  a  rope  of  sand.  The  inhabitants 
of  Massachusetts  began  the  business  of  government 
by  establishing  the  university  of  Cambridge,  and  the 
wisest  kings  in  Europe  have  always  found  their  liter- 
ary institutions  the  surest  means  of  establishing  their 
power  as  well  as  promoting  the  prosperity  of  their 
people. 

These  hints  for  establishing  the  constitution  and 
happiness  of  the  United  States  upon  a  permanent  foun- 
dation, are  submitted  to  the  friends  of  the  federal  gov- 
ernment in  each  of  the  states  by  a  Citizen  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. 


214  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

3.  A  PLAN  FOR  ESTABLISHING  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  IN 
PENNSYLVANIA,  AND  FOR  CONDUCTING  EDU- 
CATION  AGREEABLY   TO   A   REPUBLICAN 
FORM  OF  GOVERNMENT 

Addressed  to  the  Legislature  and  Citizens  of  Penn- 
sylvania, in  the  year  1786.^^ 

Before  I  proceed  to  the  subject  of  this  essay,  I  shall 
point  out  in  a  few  words,  the  influence  and  advantages 
of  learning  upon  mankind. 

I.  It  is  friendly  to  religion,  inasmuch  as  it  assists 
in  removing  prejudice,  superstition  and  enthusiasm, 
in  promoting  just  notions  of  the  Deity,  and  in  enlarg- 
ing our  knowledge  of  his  works. 

II.  It  is  favorable  to  liberty.     Freedom  can  exist 

"This  paper  stands  first  in  the  collected  "Essays".  John 
King  in  writing  to  Rush,  May  25,  1786,  says:  "I  received  also 
your  oration  and  the  pamphlet  on  education  with  your  last 
letter,  April  21.  Some  of  us  conversed  together  at  Carlisle, 
upon  the  plan  of  colleges  as  proposed  in  the  pamphlet,  but 
on  the  whole,  found  ourselves  so  much  involved  in  the  care 
of  one,  and  saw  the  state  so  much  involved  in  burdens  of 
another  kind,  that  we  thought  this  was  not  the  time  to  make 
such  a  motion.  The  state  has  laid  a  fund  in  the  appropriation 
of  lands,  for  the  benefit  of  education,  which  may  gradually, 
in  time,  bring  about  such  a  plan  as  you  proposed;  and  it  will 
contribute  to  your  honor  so  early  to  have  furnished  the 
ground-work  thereof.  To  attempt  such  a  plan  at  this  time, 
or  before  those  lands  become  (word  illegible),  would,  I  am 
persuaded,  be  fruitless."  Rush  MSS.,  Vol.  42,  p.  15.  The 
oration  spoken  of  was  the  one  on  the  Moral  Faculties. 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  215 

only  in  the  society  of  knowledge.  Without  learning, 
men  are  incapable  of  knowing  their  rights,  and  where 
learning  is  confined  to  a  few  people,  liberty  can  be 
neither  equal  nor  universal. 

III.  It  promotes  just  ideas  of  laws  and  government. 
"When  the  clouds  of  ignorance  are  dispelled  (says  the 
Marquis  of  Beccaria)  by  the  radiance  of  knowledge, 
power  trembles,  but  the  authority  of  laws  remains  im- 
moveable." 

IV.  It  is  friendly  to  manners.  Learning  in  all 
countries,  promotes  civilization,  and  the  pleasures  of 
society  and  conversation. 

V.  It  promotes  agriculture,  the  great  basis  of  na- 
tional wealth  and  happiness.  Agriculture  is  as  much 
a  science  as  hydraulics,  or  optics,  and  has  been  equally 
indebted  to  the  experiments  and  researches  of  learned 
men.  The  highly  cultivated  state,  and  the  immense 
profits  of  the  farms  in  England,  are  derived  wholly 
from  the  patronage  which  agriculture  has  received  in 
that  country,  from  learned  men  and  learned  societies. 

VI.  Manufactures  of  all  kinds  owe  their  perfection 
chiefly  to  learning — hence  the  nations  of  Europe  ad- 
vance in  manufactures,  knowledge,  and  commerce, 
only  in  proportion  as  they  cultivate  the  arts  and  scien- 
ces. 

For  the  purpose  of  diffusing  knowledge  through 


216  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

every  part  of  the  state,  I  beg  to  propose  the  following 
simple  plan. 

I.  Let  there  be  one  university  in  the  state,  and  let 
this  be  established  in  the  capital.  Let  law,  physic, 
divinity,  the  law  of  nature  and  nations,  economy,  etc. 
be  taught  in  it  by  public  lectures  in  the  winter  season, 
after  the  manner  of  the  European  universities,  and  let 
the  professors  receive  such  salaries  from  the  state  as 
will  enable  them  to  deliver  their  lectures  at  a  moderate 
price. 

IL  Let  there  be  four  colleges.  One  in  Philadel- 
phia; one  at  Carlisle;  a  third,  for  the  benefit  of  our 
German  fellow  citizens,  at  Lancaster;  and  a  fourth, 
some  years  hence  at  Pittsburgh.  In  these  colleges, 
let  young  men  be  instructed  in  mathematics  and  in  the 
higher  branches  of  science,  in  the  same  manner  that 
they  are  now  taught  in  our  American  colleges.  After 
they  have  received  a  testimonial  from  one  of  these 
colleges,  let  them  if  they  can  afiford  it,  complete  their 
studies  by  spending  a  season  or  two  in  attending  the 
lectures  in  the  university.  I  prefer  four  colleges  in 
the  state  to  one  or  two,  for  there  is  a  certain  size  of 
colleges  as  there  is  of  towns  and  armies,  that  is  most 
favorable  to  morals  and  good  government.  Oxford 
and  Cambridge  in  England  are  the  seats  of  dissipation, 
while  the  more  numerous,  and  less  crowded  univer- 
sities and  colleges  of  Scotland  are  remarkable  for  the 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  217 

order,  diligence,  and  decent  behaviour  of  their  stu- 
dents. 

III.  Let  there  be  free  schools  established  in  every 
township,  or  in  districts  consisting  of  one  hundred 
families.  In  these  schools  let  children  be  taught  to 
read  and  write  the  English  and  German  languages, 
and  the  use  of  figures.  Such  of  them  as  have  parents 
that  can  afford  to  send  them  from  home,  and  are  dis- 
posed to  extend  their  educations,  may  remove  their 
children  from  the  free  school  to  one  of  the  colleges. 

By  this  plan  the  whole  state  will  be  tied  together 
by  one  system  of  education.  The  university  will  in 
time  furnish  masters  for  the  colleges,  and  the  colleges 
will  furnish  masters  for  the  free  schools,  while  the 
free  schools,  in  their  turns,  will  supply  the  colleges 
and  the  university  with  scholars,  students  and  pupils. 
The  same  systems  of  grammar,  oratory  and  philoso- 
phy, will  be  taught  in  every  part  of  the  state,  and  the 
literary  features  of  Pennsylvania  will  thus  designate 
one  great,  and  equally  enlightened  family. 

But,  how  shall  we  bear  the  expense  of  these  liter- 
ary institutions? — I  answer — These  institutions  will 
lessen  our  taxes.  They  will  enlighten  us  in  the  great 
business  of  finance — they  will  teach  us  to  encrease  the 
ability  of  the  state  to  support  government,  by  en- 
creasing  the  profits  of  agriculture,  and  by  promoting 
manufactures.    They  will  teach  us  all  the  modern  im- 


218  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

provements  and  advantages  of  inland  navigation. 
They  will  defend  us  from  hasty  and  expensive  experi- 
ment in  government,  by  unfolding  to  us  the  experience 
and  folly  of  past  ages,  and  thus,  instead  of  adding  to 
our  taxes  and  debts,  they  will  furnish  us  with  the  true 
secret  of  lessening  and  discharging  both  of  them. 

But  shall  the  estates  of  orphans,  batchelors  and 
persons  who  have  no  children,  be  taxed  to  pay  for  the 
support  of  schools  from  which  they  can  derive  no  bene- 
fit? I  answer  in  the  affirmative,  to  the  first  of  the  ob- 
jection, and  I  deny  the  truth  of  the  latter  part  of  it. 
Every  member  of  the  community  is  interested  in  the 
propagation  of  virtue  and  knowledge  in  the  state.  But 
I  will  go  further,  and  add,  it  will  be  true  oeconomy  in 
individuals  to  support  public  schools.  The  batchelor 
will  in  time  save  his  tax  for  this  purpose,  by  being 
able  to  sleep  with  fewer  bolts  and  locks  to  his  doors. — 
the  estates  of  orphans  will  in  time  be  benefited,  by 
being  protected  from  the  ravages  of  unprincipled  and 
idle  boys,  and  the  children  of  wealthy  parents  will  be 
less  tempted,  by  bad  company,  to  extravagance.  Fewer 
pillories  and  whipping  posts,  and  smaller  gaols,  with 
their  usual  expenses  and  taxes,  will  be  necessary  when 
our  youth  are  properly  educated,  than  at  present;  I 
believe  it  could  be  proved,  that  the  expenses  of  con- 
fining, trying  and  executing  criminals,  amount  every 
year,  in  most  counties,  to  more  money  than  would  be 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  219 

sufficient  to  maintain  all  the  schools  that  would  be 
necessary  in  each  county.  The  confessions  of  these 
criminals  generally  show  us,  that  their  vices  and  pun- 
ishments are  the  fatal  consequences,  of  the  want  of  a 
proper  education  in  early  life. 

I  submit  these  detached  hints  to  the  consideration 
of  the  legislature  and  of  the  citizens  of  Pennsylvania. 
The  plan  of  the  free  schools  is  taken  chiefly  from  the 
plans  which  have  long  been  used  with  success  in 
Scotland  and  in  the  Eastern  States  of  America  where 
the  influence  of  learning,  in  promoting  religion,  morals, 
manners  and  good  government,  has  never  been  ex- 
ceeded in  any  country. 

The  manner  in  which  these  schools  should  be  sup- 
ported and  governed — the  modes  of  determining  the 
characters  and  qualifications  of  schoolmasters,  and  the 
arrangement  of  families  in  each  district,  so  that  chil- 
dren of  the  same  religious  sect  and  nation,  may  be 
educated  as  much  as  possible  together,  will  form  a 
proper  part  of  a  law  for  the  establishment  of  schools, 
and  therefore  does  not  come  within  the  limits  of  this 
plan.^^ 

"As  stated  in  the  bibliography  this  essay  was  first  pub- 
lished in  1786  as  a  pamphlet.  As  the'n  printed,  Manheim 
was  suggested  as  the  site  of  the  German  College.  But  in  the 
following  year  Franklin  (now  Franklin  and  Marshall)  Col- 
lege was  located  at  Lancasteir  and  when  the  Essays  were 
collected    in    1798,    this    was    changed    to    conform    with    the 


220  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

4.    TO  THE  CITIZENS  OF  PHILADELPHIA,  AND  OF 

THE  DISTRICTS  OF  SOUTHWARK  AND  THE 

NORTHERN  LIBERTIES.'' 

Every  friend  to  the  prosperity  of  Pennsylvania 
must  view,  with  pleasure,  the  establishment  and  suc- 
cess of  those  seminaries  of  learning  which  are  intend- 
ed to  diffuse  knowledge  through  the  state ;  but  useful 
as  these  colleges  and  academies  are,  they  are  not  suf- 

existing  fact.  There  were  other  changes.  Dr.  Rush  had 
proposed  the  establishmeTit  of  an  academy  in  each  county 
and  had  outlined  a  method  of  support  by  means  of  land 
grants.  He  urged  the  necessity  for  a  school  law  to  ordain  a 
method  for  the  support  of  schools  and  for  their  government; 
to  fix  the  qualifications  of  schoolmasters;  to  arrange  a  plan 
whereby  the  families  in  each  township  or  district  might 
be  grouped  so  that  the  children  of  each  could  be  educated 
together.  He  suggested  that  in  granting  charters  the  legis- 
lature should  not  confer  on  colleges  the  right  to  grant  de- 
grees indiscriminately  but  only  in  those  subjects  and  courses 
in  which  they  gave  instruction,  le'st  degrees  should  become 
"so  cheap  that  they  will  cease  to  be  the  honorable  badges  of 
industry  and  learning".  He  would  have  public  (though  not 
entirely  free)  librarie's  in  every  college,  academy  and  school 
in  the  country.  And,  lastly,  he  suggested  that  in  a  republic 
it  might  be  wise  to  make  the  ability  to  read  and  write  a 
necessary  qualification  for  voting.  This  last  suggestion  he 
once  made  to  Ex-President  John  Adams,  who,  however,  did 
not  agree  with  him.  See  p.  194.  On  the  whole  the  essay 
was  decidedly  stronger  as  originally  written. 

"This  plea  is  printed  in  the  Independent  Gazeteer  for 
Wednesday,  March  28,  1787  (No.  403).  It  is  unsigned,  but 
the  language  and  ideas  are  unmistakably  those  of  Dr.  Rush. 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  221 

ficiently  extensive  in  their  objects  to  spread  literature 
through  the  humble  and  indigent  classes  of  people. 
They  are  calculated,  chiefly,  for  the  benefit  of  the  af- 
fluent and  independent  part  of  the  citizens  of  the  state. 

The  blessings  of  knowledge  can  be  extended  to  the 
poor  and  labouring  part  of  the  community,  only  by 
means  of  Free  Schools. 

The  remote  and  unconnected  state  of  the  settle- 
ments in  the  new  counties,  will  forbid  the  establish- 
ment of  those  schools  for  some  years  to  come,  by  a 
general  law ;  but  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  this  being 
set  on  foot  immediately  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia, 
and  in  the  old  and  thick  settled  counties  of  the  state. 

To  a  people  enlightened  in  the  principles  of  liberty 
and  Christianity,  arguments,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  will  be 
unnecessary  to  persuade  them  to  adopt  these  necessary 
and  useful  institutions.  The  children  of  poor  people 
form  a  great  proportion  of  all  communities — their  ig- 
norance and  vices,  when  neglected  are  not  confined  to 
themselves — they  associate  with,  and  contaminate  the 
children  of  persons  in  the  higher  ranks  of  society — 
thus  they  assist,  after  they  arrive  at  manhood,  in  chus- 
ing  the  rulers  who  govern  the  whole  community — they 
give  a  complexion  to  the  morals  and  manners  of  the 
people — in  short,  where  the  common  people  are  ignor- 
ant and  vicious,  a  nation,  and,  above  all,  a  republican 
nation,  can  never  long  be  free  and  happy.    It  becomes 


222  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

us,  therefore,  as  we  love  our  offspring,  and  value  the 
freedom  and  prosperity  of  our  country,  immediately  to 
provide  for  the  education  of  the  poor  children,  who  are 
so  numerous  in  the  thick  settled  parts  of  the  state. 

The  following  plan,  for  beginning  this  important 
business  in  the  capital  of  the  state,  is  submitted  to  the 
consideration  of  the  citizens  of  Philadelphia,  and  of 
the  districts  of  Southwark  and  the  Northern  Liberties. 

First,  Let  an  application  be  made  to  the  Legisla- 
ture for  a  law  to  assess  1000  £  upon  all  estates  in  the 
city  and  liberties  of  Philadelphia,  to  be  appropriated 
for  the  maintenance  of  school-masters,  for  the  rent  of 
school-houses  and  other  expenses  connected  with  this 
undertaking.  This  mode  of  establishing  free-schools 
has  many  advantages  over  that  of  trusting  them  to 
the  precarious  support  of  charitable  contributions.  In 
Scotland  and  New-England  the  free  schools  are  main- 
tained by  law — hence  education  and  knowledge  are 
universal  in  those  countries. — In  England  the  free- 
schools  are  supported,  chiefly  by  charity  sermons — 
hence  education  and  knowledge  are  so  partially  dif- 
fused through  that  country,  and  hence  too,  the  origin 
of  the  numerous  executions  and  inventions  to  punish 
and  extirpate  criminals,  of  which  we  daily  read  such 
melancholy  accounts  in  the  English  newspapers.  Char- 
itable contributions  fall  unequally  upon  the  different 
members  of  society — a  tax  will  be  more  equally  borne, 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  223 

and  will  be  so  light  as  scarcely  to  be  felt  by  anybody. 
The  price  of  a  bottle  of  wine,  or  of  a  single  fashionable 
feather  will  pay  the  tax  of  an  ordinary  free-holder  for 
a  whole  year  to  those  schools : — Besides  there  will  be 
real  oeconomy,  in  the  payment  of  this  tax,  [for]  by 
sowing  the  seeds  of  good  morals  in  the  schools,  and 
inspiring  the  youth  with  habits  of  industry,  the  num- 
ber of  the  poor,  and  of  course  the  sum  of  the  tax  paid 
for  their  maintenance  will  be  diminished.  By  lessen- 
ing the  quantity  of  vice,  we  shall  moreover  lessen  the 
expenses  of  jails,  and  of  the  usual  forms  of  law  which 
conduct  people  to  them.  Above  all,  we  shall  render  an 
acceptable  service  to  the  Divine  Being,  in  taking  care 
of  that  part  of  our  fellow  creatures  who  appear  to  be 
the  more  immediate  objects  of  his  compassion  and 
benevolence. 

Secondly,  Let  the  children  who  are  sent  to  those 
schools  be  taught  to  read  and  write  the  English,  and 
(when  required  by  their  parents)  the  German  lan- 
guage. Let  the  girls  be  instructed  in  needle-work, 
knitting  and  spinning,  as  well  as  in  the  branches  of 
literature  that  have  been  mentioned. — Above  all,  let 
both  sexes  be  carefully  instructed  in  the  principles, 
and  obligations  of  the  Christian  religion.  This  is  the 
most  essential  part  of  education — this  will  make  them 
dutiful  children — teachable  scholars — and,  afterwards, 
good  apprentices — good  husbands— good  wives — hon- 


224  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

est  mechanics — industrious  farmers — peaceable  sailors 
— and,  in  everything  that  relates  to  this  country,  good 
citizens.  To  effect  this  important  purpose  it  will  be 
necessary, 

Thirdly,  That  the  children  of  parents  of  the  same 
religious  denominations  should  be  educated  together, 
in  order  that  they  may  be  instructed  with  the  more 
ease  in  the  principles  and  forms  of  their  respective 
churches.  By  these  means  the  schools  will  come  more 
immediately  under  the  inspection  of  the  Ministers  of 
the  city,  and  thereby  religion  and  learning  be  more 
intimately  connected. 

After  the  experience  we  have  had  of  the  advantages 
derived  by  the  friends  [Friends]  from  connecting  their 
schools  and  their  church  together,  nothing  further 
need  be  added  in  favor  of  this  part  of  the  plan. 

Fourthly,  Let  the  money  to  be  raised  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  schools  be  lodged  in  the  hands  of  the  city 
Treasurer,  to  be  appropriated  in  the  following  man- 
ner: Let  a  certain  number  of  persons,  of  each  religious 
society,  be  appointed  Trustees  of  the  free  schools  of 
their  respective  churches — and  let  a  draught,  signed 
by  the  president  of  a  quorum  of  these  Trustees  be  a 
voucher  to  the  Treasurer  to  issue  three  or  four  pounds 
a  year  for  every  scholar  who  is  educated  by  them.  As 
soon  as  the  number  of  scholars,  belonging  to  any  re- 
ligious society  exceeds  fifteen,  let  30 £  a  year  be  al- 


EDUCATIONAL   WRITINGS  225 

lowed  to  them  for  the  rent  of  the  school-room  and  for 
paper,  ink,  pens,  books,  and  firewood;  and  60 £  a  year, 
when  the  number  of  scholars  becomes  so  great  as  to 
require  two  school-rooms.  If  any  religious  society 
should  decline  accepting  of  the  bounty  of  the  city, 
from  having  provided  for  the  education  of  their  poor 
by  private  contribution,  let  their  proportion  of  it  be 
thrown  into  the  poor  tax  of  the  city,  if  it  should  not 
be  required  for  the  poor  children  of  the  less  wealthy 
societies.     And, 

Lastly,  Let  the  accounts  and  expenditures  of  the 
schools  be  open  at  all  times  to  inspectors  to  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  law,  and  published  every  year. 

Citizens  of  Philadelphia,  awaken,  at  last,  to  check 
the  vice  which  taints  the  atmosphere  of  our  city.  The 
profane  and  indecent  language  which  assaults  our  ears 
in  every  street,  can  only  be  restrained  by  extending 
education  to  the  children  of  poor  people.  The  present 
is  an  aera  of  public  spirit — the  Dispensary  and  the 
Humane  Society,  will  be  lasting  monuments  of  the 
humanity  of  the  present  citizens  of  Philadelphia.  But 
let  not  the  health  and  lives  of  the  poor  exhaust  our 
whole  stock  of  benevolence — their  morals  are  of  more 
consequence  to  society  than  their  health  or  lives :  and 
their  minds  must  exist  forever.  "Blessed  is  he  that 
considereth  the  poor,  the  Lord  will  deliver  him  in  time 
of  trouble.    The  Lord  will  preserve  him,  and  keep  him 


226  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

alive  upon  the  earth — he  will  not  deliver  him  unto  the 
will  of  his  enemies." 

5.    FENELON  AND   RUSH   ON  THE  EDUCATION   OF 
WOMEN;    A  COMPARISON 

Fenelon's  essay  De  I'Education  des  Filles  was  writ- 
ten in  1688.  Rush's  Thoughts  on  Female  Education, 
etc.,  is  a  commencement  address,  delivered  July  28, 
1787. 

The  references  are  to  Fenelon's  "A  Treatise  on  the 
Education  of  Daughters",  translated  by  Rev.  T.  F. 
Dibdin  and  published  by  Charles  Ewer,  Boston,  1821 ; 
and  to  Rush's  Essays,  (the  edition  of  1806). 

Fenelon.  ^^Rush. 

p.  171  '    p.  75. 

Women  as  well  as  men  ....  Female  education 
should  adapt  their  pur-  should  be  accommodated 
suits  in  literature  and  to  the  state  of  society, 
science  to  their  situations  manners  and  government 
and  functions  in  life ;  and  of  the  country  in  which 
according  to  their  occupa-  it  is  conducted.  .  .  .  There 
tions  should  be  their  stud-  are  several  circumstances 
ies.  in   the   situation,  employ- 

ments, and  duties  of  wom- 
en in  America  which  re- 
quire a  peculiar  mode  of 
education. 


EDUCATIONAL   WRITINGS  2z/ 

pp.  171-73.  p.  76. 

She    [  the    mother]     is  From     t  he      numerous 

charged   with   the   educa-  avocations      from      their 

tion  of  her  children families,  to  which  profes- 

What  discernment  is  nee-  sional  life  exposes  gentle- 

essary   to   know   the   dis-  men  in  America,  a  princi- 

position     and     genius     of  pal   share  of  the   instruc- 

each  of  her  children !  .  .  .  .  tion  of  children  naturally 

Can  it  be   supposed  that  devolves  upon  the  wom- 

women   ought   not  to   be  en.     It  becomes  us  there- 

explicitly     and     formally  fore  to  prepare  them  by  a 

instructed  in  these  duties,  suitable  education  for  the 

because     they     naturally  discharge  of  this  most  im- 

fall  into  them  during  the  portant  duty  of  mothers, 
lives    of    their    husbands 
who  are  generally  engag- 
ed in  business  from  home. 

pp.  173-5.  p.  76. 

To  the  government  of  The  state  of  property 
families  add  economy,  in  America  renders  It  nec- 
The  greater  part  of  wom-  essary  for  the  greatest 
en  neglect  it  as  a  mean  part  of  our  citizens  to  em- 
consideration.  ...  If  you  ploy  themselves  in  dif¥er- 
speak  to  them  of  the  sale  ent  occupations,  for  the 
of  corn,  of  the  cultivation  advancement  of  their  for- 
of  lands,  etc.  they  imag-  tunes.      This     cannot    be 


22% 


BENJAMIN  RUSH 


ine  that  you  wish  to  re- 
duce them  to  occupations 
unworthy  of  their  rank 
and  character.  ...  It  re- 
quires a  more  elevated 
and  comprehensive  genius 
to  be  instructed  and  well- 
informed  in  all  the  partic- 
ulars relating  to  economy 
and  to  be  thereby  able  to 
regulate  an  entire  family 
(which  is  a  little  repub- 
lic) than  to  play,  talk  of 
the  fashions,  and  be  ex- 
pert in  all  the  polite  arts 
of  conversation. 


done  without  the  assist- 
ance of  the  female  mem- 
bers of  the  community. 
They  must  be  the  stew- 
ards and  guardians  of 
their  husband's  property. 
That  education,  therefore, 
will  be  most  proper  for 
our  women,  which  teach- 
es them  to  discharge  the 
duties  of  those  offices  with 
the  most  success  and  rep- 
utation. 


pp.  185,  188. 

To  the  duties  previous- 
ly enumerated  may  be 
added  the  art  of  choosing 
and  retaining  servants.  .  . 
Nothing  is  so  well  calcu- 
lated to  effect  this  domes- 
tic government  as  the  be- 
ing early  initiated  in  it. 


p.  77. 

In  Great  Britain  the 
business  of  servants  is  a 
regular  occupation ;  but 
in  America  this  humble 
station  is  the  usual  re- 
treat of  unexpected  indi- 
gence, hence  the  servants 
of  this  country  possess 
less  knowledge  and  sub- 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS 


229 


ordination  than  are  re- 
quired of  them.  .  .  .  This 
circumstance  should  have 
great  influence  upon  the 
nature  and  extent  of  fe- 
male education  in  Amer- 
ica. 


pp.  189-90. 

Teach  a  girl  to  read  and 
write  correctly.  It  is  a 
shameful  thing,  but  too 
common,  to  see  women  of 
understanding  and  good 
breeding  who  cannot  ac- 
curately pronounce   what 

they    read •.  They 

are  moreover  sometimes 
grossly  deficient  in  or- 
thography ;  either  as  to 
the  manner  of  forming  or 
connecting  their  letters 
when  writing ;  at  any  rate 
they  should  be  taught  to 
write  straight  and  in  a 
character  neat  and  legi- 
ble.   A  girl  should  know 


pp.  77-8. 

The  branches  of  litera- 
ture most  essential  for  a 
young  lady  in  this  coun- 
try   appear    to    be,    1.    a 
knowledge  of  the  English 
language.   She  should  not 
only  read  but  speak  and 
spell  it  correctly.    And  to 
enable  her  to  do  this,  she 
should  be  taught  the  Eng- 
lish grammar.  .  .  2.  Pleas- 
ure and  interest  conspire 
to  make  the  writing  of  a 
fair    and    legible    hand    a 
necessary  branch  of  a  la- 
dy's education.     For  this 
purpose     she     should    be 
taught  not  only  to  shape 


230 


BENJAMIN  RUSH 


the  grammar  of  her  own      every  letter  properly  but 
Language.  to  pay  the  strictest  regard 

to  the  points  and  capitals. 
....  There  is  one  thing  in 
which  all  mankind  agree 
on  this  subject  and  that 
is,  in  considering  writing 
that  is  blotted,  crooked 
and  illegible  as  a  mark  of 
vulgar  education. 


pp.  190-91. 

Females  should  also  be 
instructed  in  the  first  four 

rules  of  arithmetic 

which  will  be  of  essential 
use  to  them  in  keeping  ac- 
counts. ...  It  will  be  pru- 
dent also  to  give  them  a 
knowledge  of  the  princi- 
pal rules  of  justice;  for 
example,  of  the  difference 
between  a  gift  and  a  thing 
bequeathed ;  between  a 
contract  and  an  entail, 
and  a  co-partnership  of 
inheritance,  etc.  .  .  When 


p.  79. 

Some  knowledge  of  fig- 
ures and  book-keeping  is 
absolutely  necessary  to 
qualify  a  young  lady  for 
the  duties  which  await 
her  in  this  country.  There 
are  certain  occupations  in 
which  she  may  assist  her 
husband  with  this  knowl- 
edge ;  and  should  she  sur- 
vive him,  and  agreeably 
to  the  custom  of  our 
country  be  the  executrix 
of  his  will,  she  cannot  fail 
of  deriving  immense  ad- 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS 


231 


women    marry    they    will     vantage  from  it. 
find  a  knowledge  of  these 
things    of    great    import- 
ance to  them. 


pp.  193-195. 

These  instructions  hav- 
ing been  attended  to,  I 
think  it  may  not  be  im- 
proper to  allow  young 
women,  according  to  their 
leisure  and  capacity  the 
perusal  of  profane  and 
classical  writers,  provi- 
ded there  be  nothing  in 
them  to  inflame  the  pas- 
sions:  these  will  be  a 
means  also  of  giving  them 
a  distaste  for  plays  and 
romances.  Put  into  their 
hands,  therefore,  the 
Greek  and  Roman  histo- 
ries. .  .  .  Let  them  be  ac- 
quainted likewise  with 
the  history  of  their  own 
country.  ...  I  would  al- 
low also,  but  with  great 


p.  81. 

The  attention  of  our 
young  ladies  should  be 
directed,  as  soon  as  they 
are  prepared  for  it  to  the 
reading  of  history — trav- 
els— poetry  and  moral  es- 
says. These  studies  are 
accommodated  in  a  pecu- 
liar manner,  to  the  pres- 
ent state  of  society  in 
America,  and  when  a  rel- 
ish is  excited  for  them  in 
early  life,  they  subdue 
that  passion  for  reading 
novels  which  so  generally 
prevails  among  the  fair 
sex. 


22>2 


BENJAMIN  RUSH 


care  the  perusal  of  works 
of  eloquence  and   poetry. 

p.  197. 

Poetry  and  music  di- 
rected to  their  true  end, 
may  be  of  excellent  use 
to  excite  in  the  soul,  live- 
ly and  sublime  sentiments 
of  virtue.  .  .  .  The  church 
has  employed  it  for  the 
consolation  of  her  chil- 
dren. 


p.  80. 

Vocal  music  should  nev- 
er be  neglected  in  the  edu- 
cation of  a  young  lady  in 
this  country.  Besides  pre- 
paring her  to  join  in  that 
part  of  public  worship 
which  consists  in  psalm- 
ody, it  will  enable  her  to 
soothe  the  cares  of  do- 
mestic life. 


pp.  194-95. 

It  is  generally  thought 
a  necessary  part  of  a  good 
education  for  a  young 
lady  of  rank  to  be  taught 
the  Italian  and  Spanish 
languages ;  for  my  part  I 
see  no  use  in  these  ac- 
quirements unless  the  la- 
dy is  to  be  connected  with 
some    Spanish    or   Italian 


p.  89. 

Then  [i.  e.  in  the  period 
of  America's  decline]  will 
our  language  and  pronun- 
ciation be  corrupted  by  a 
flood  of  French  and  Ital- 
ian words ;  then  will 
the  history  of  romantic 
amours,  be  preferred  to 
the  pure  and  immortal 
writings       of       Addison, 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  233 

princess;  besides  these  Hawkesworth  and  John- 
two  languages  often  lead  son. 
them  to  books  that  are 
dangerous.  .  .  .  The  Italian 
and  Spanish  are  full  of 
quaint  conceits,  and  a 
wantonness  of  imagina- 
tion bordering  on  extrav- 
agance. 

Both  Rush  and  Fenelon  insist  on  rational  methods 
of  discipline ;  both  lay  stress  on  regular  and  systemat- 
ic instruction  in  religion,  and,  as  one  would  expect  of 
a  writer  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Rush  urges  the 
study  of  the  evidences  of  Christianity  while  Fenelon 
in  the  seventeenth  merely  emphasizes  dogmatic  in- 
struction in  accepted  tenets ;  and  both  use  the  famous 
description  of  a  virtuous  woman  in  Proverbs,  Fenelon 
by  quoting  the  passage  and  Rush  by  comparing  it 
v^rith  what  for  him  is  the  modern  conception  of  a  fine 
woman. 

As  one  would  further  expect  from  an  eighteenth 
century  writer,  Rush  makes  favorable  reference  to  the 
sciences ;  geography,  chemistry,  astronomy.  Rush 
recommends  dancing  and  Fenelon  is  silent  on  the  sub- 
ject ;  Rush  urges  that  women  be  instructed  in  political 
topics  and   Fenelon  thinks  this  unsuitable.     Fenelon 


234  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

recommends  the  study  of  the  classics  and  Rush  is  si- 
lent, but  we  know  what  his  answer  was. 

Rush  also  makes  some  references  to  conditions  in 
America  which  are  of  course  not  found  in  Fenelon, 
and  to  the  value  of  singing  as  a  physical  exercise. 

This  outline  seems  to  include  nearly  all,  if  not  all, 
the  important  points  in  the  "Thoughts  upon  Female 
Education".  Although  this  piece  was  delivered  as  an 
"occasional  address",  yet,  to  be  candid,  Rush  should 
have  acknowledged  his  indebtedness  to  the  man  who 
furnished  most  of  the  matter.  The  only  excuse  that 
could  be  offered  for  him,  for  not  doing  so,  when  the 
address  took  its  place  as  one  of  the  Essays,  is  that  in 
the  ten  years  that  elapsed  between  its  delivery  and  its 
publication,  the  debt  to  Fenelon  was  forgotten.  But 
even  this  excuse  c?nnot  be  made,  for  the  address  was 
separately  printed  soon  after  its  deilvery.  (See  bibli- 
ography.) 

6.   A  LECTURE^'* 
In  resuming  this  subject,  I  must  declare  that  I  am 
actuated  by  no  unkind  feelings  to  any  of  the  gentle- 

"The  following  lecture  was  delivered  about  1795  to  a 
class  of  medical  students  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
The  orig-inal  in  Dr.  Rush's  own  hand  but  without  a  title  and 
undated  is  in  the  Ridgway  Library.  I  have  not  seen  the 
"lecture"  preceding  this  one,  which  is  mentioned  in  the  open- 
ing sentence.     It  is  probably  lost. 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  235 

men  who  preside  over  those  institutions,  or  who  are 
concerned  in  conducting  education  in  them.  On  the 
contrary,  I  consider  myself  as  related  [to]  them,  by 
the  office  of  a  teacher  of  medicine  which  I  hold  in  this 
University.  The  remarks  therefore  [which]  I  shall 
make  upon  the  plan  of  instruction  pursued  by  them 
shall  not  be  the  strictures  of  an  enemy,  but  the  com- 
plaints of  a  friend  and  brother. 

I  shall  begin  by  taking  notice  that  the  same  branch- 
es of  learning  are  taught  in  our  American  seminaries, 
and  in  the  same  way,  in  which  they  were  taught  in 
the  universities  of  Great  Britain,  200  years  ago,  with- 
out a  due  allowance  being  made  for  the  different  obli- 
gations and  interests  which  have  been  created  by  time, 
and  the  peculiar  state  of  society  in  a  new  country,  in 
which  the  business  of  the  principal  part  of  the  inhabit- 
ants is  to  obtain  the  first  and  most  necessary  means 
of  subsistence. 

It  is  equally  a  matter  of  regret,  that  no  accommo- 
dation has  been  made  in  the  system  of  education  in 
our  seminaries  to  the  new  form  of  our  government  and 
the  many  national  duties,  and  objects  of  knowledge, 
that  have  been  imposed  upon  us  by  the  American 
Revolution. 

Instead  of  instructing  our  sons  in  the  Arts  most 
essential  to  their  existence,  and  in  the  means  of  ac- 


236  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

quiring  that  kind  of  knowledge  which  is  connected 
with  the  time,  the  country,  and  the  government  in 
which  they  live,  they  are  compelled  to  spend  the  first 
five  years  after  they  enter  school  in  learning  two  lan- 
guages which  no  longer  exist,  and  are  rarely  spoken, 
which  have  ceased  to  be  the  vehicles  of  Science  and 
literature,  and  which  contain  no  knowledge  but  what 
is  to  be  met  with  in  a  more  improved  and  perfect  state 
in  modern  languages. 

This  practice,  so  contrary  to  reason,  is  marked  in 
the  manner  in  which  it  is  conducted,  by  several  cir- 
cumstances which  are,  if  possible,  still  more  character- 
istic of  its  folly. 

The  Latin  and  Greek  languages  are  imposed  upon 
a  boy  before  his  mind  is  sufficiently  opened  to  compre- 
hend their  principles,  or  objects.  It  is  impossible,  by 
any  art,  to  make  him  anything  but  a  playful  vocabu- 
lary [sic]  of  Latin,  and  Greek  words  before  he  is 
twelve  years  old.  I  know  it  has  been  said  in  favor  of 
the  practice  of  connecting  the  Latin  and  Greek  gram- 
mars with  a  kite,  or  a  cup  and  ball,  in  the  hands  of  a 
boy,  that  they  seem  like  a  wedge  to  open  his  mind,  and 
thereby  to  prepare  him  for  other  studies.  This  is  so 
far  from  being  true,  that  I  believe  they  serve  rather 
to  weaken  and  distort  his  faculties,  and  to  render  them 
unfit  for  the  higher  branches  of  education. 

Too  much  time  is  consumed  in  teaching  grammar 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  2Z7 

rules,  before  a  boy  is  called  upon  to  apply  them  in  the 
construction,  and  translation  of  the  languages.  This 
is  an  inversion  of  [the]  natural  order.  Grammar  rules 
by  being  resorted  to  only  when  they  were  [sic]  re- 
quired to  assist  in  the  translation  of  a  sentence,  would 
be  perfectly  understood,  and  so  impressed  upon  the 
memor}^  as  never  to  be  forgotten. 

The  ears  are  never  employed  to  assist  the  eyes, 
and  the  memory  in  acquiring  those  languages  by 
means  of  Latin  and  Greek  conversations. 

The  poets  and  orators  are  preferred  to  the  histo- 
rians and  philosophers  of  ancient  times.  The  former 
are  calculated  to  impart  pleasure  only ;  the  latter  con- 
tain much  useful  knowledge,  capable  of  being  applied 
to  many  useful  purposes  in  life. 

So  much  time  is  employed  in  teaching  the  dead 
languages,  that  but  two  years  are  left,  out  of  seven, 
in  the  ordinary  course  of  a  young  man's  education  to 
teach  the  arts  and  sciences. 

From  this  defective  mode  of  teaching  the  dead  lan- 
guages, it  follows  that  few  boys  ever  learn  them  per- 
fectly, and  none  who  apply  to  professional  business, 
are  able  to  read  them  seven  years  after  they  leave 
college. 

Such  is  the  imperious  rank  of  the  Latin  and  Greek 
languages,   that   a   correct   knowledge   is   seldom   ob- 


238  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

tained  in  the  seminaries  in  which  they  are  taught  of 
reading,  writing  and  arithmetic.  Public  speaking  is 
substituted  to  [sic]  reading.  The  handwriting  is  im- 
paired by  composing  Latin  versions  and  no  pains  are 
taken  to  teach  the  proper  use  of  points  and  capitals 
Arithmetic  is  wholly  neglected  or  taught  in  a  most 
superficial  manner.  Of  its  total  neglect  I  have  lately 
heard  a  melancholy  instance.  A  gentleman  who  gradu- 
ated some  years  ago  at  one  of  our  Seminaries  informed 
me  that  he  had  never  been  exercised  in  a  rule  of  Arith- 
metic after  he  entered  college,  and  that  he  believed 
there  was  not  a  member  of  the  class  that  graduated 
with  him,  that  could  repeat  from  memory  the  multipli- 
cation table. 

What  a  strange  compound  of  contradictions  is  man, 
in  all  his  pursuits!  We  require  a  knowledge  of  read- 
ing, writing  and  arithmetic  in  the  business  of  every 
day  of  our  lives.  We  seldom  recur  to  our  knowledge 
of  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages,  and  yet  we  spend 
five  years  in  acquiring  them  at  the  expense  of  the  com- 
mon and  practical  branches  of  English  literature.  In 
this  conduct  we  resemble  a  man  who  throws  away  his 
coin,  and  burdens  himself  with  fragments  of  ancient 
statues  in  traveling  through  a  foreign  country,  or  to 
use  a  more  familiar  simile,  we  lay  out  our  patrimony 
in  tracts  of  distant  territory,  which  serve  only  to  create 
a  name  for  wealth,  and  suffer  at  the  same  time  by 


EDUCATIONAL   WRITINGS  239 

neglecting  to  obtain  a  certain  and  profitable  income 
by  the  cultivation  of  a  farm. 

There  is  not,  I  believe,  a  Seminary  of  learning  in 
the  United  States  in  which  a  student  is  obliged  to 
learn  the  French  language  previous  to  his  being  ad- 
mitted to  a  literary  honor.  The  entertainment  and 
even  splendor  of  a  Commencement  I  am  sure  would 
be  much  increased  by  orations  or  dialogues  in  that 
popular  and  general  vehicle  of  Science  and  literature. 

The  German  and  Italian  languages  are  not  taught 
in  any  of  the  colleges  of  the  United  States. 

A  course  of  lectures  upon  the  Evidences,  Doctrines 
and  precepts  of  Christianity  forms  no  part  of  the  edu- 
cation of  young  men  in  our  country.  The  small  por- 
tion of  instruction  which  is  given  upon  these  import- 
ant subjects  by  means  of  catechisms  is  too  abstruse  to 
be  intelligible,  or  too  simple  to  be  useful. 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  ancient  Greeks  whose 
wisdom  we  are  so  much  disposed  to  admire,  made  the 
principal  part  of  education  to  consist  in  learning  the 
religion  and  language  of  their  country.  The  Americans 
exclude  religion  as  a  system  altogether,  and  give  to 
their  vernacular  language  but  a  humble  place,  in  their 
plans  of  education.  But  every  truth  has  its  counter- 
feit error  in  which  it  receives  the  homage  due  to  its 
original.     The  Americans  indirectly  acknowledge  the 


240  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

advantages  of  instruction  in  the  religion  and  language 
of  their  country,  by  teaching  our  young  men  the  relig- 
ion and  languages  of  the  ancient  Greeks.  Thus  the 
Indian  acknowledges  the  Being  and  Goodness  of  a 
god,  in  his  idolatrous  worship  of  the  sun. 

No  instruction  is  given  in  natural  history  in  our 
American  Seminaries.  Even  the  names  of  the  beauti- 
ful and  various  furniture  of  our  globe  are  never  men- 
tioned in  our  schools,  except  in  a  dead  language. 

Geography  is  taught  superficially  and  crowded  with 
so  many  studies  that  few  young  men  know  more  than 
its  elements,  when  they  leave  college.  There  is  not 
so  much  merit  in  knowing  this  science,  said  Lord 
Mansfield,  as  there  is  disgrace  in  being  ignorant  of  it. 
We  learn  to  neglect  this  study  from  the  practice  of 
European  schools.  The  celebrated  Mr.  James  Harvey 
left  the  University  of  Oxford  with  the  character  of  an 
accurate  scholar.  Soon  afterwards  he  was  referred  to 
in  a  large  company  to  decide  a  controversy  upon  the 
latitude  of  the  ancient  city  of  Jerusalem.  He  was  si- 
lent but  was  so  much  ashamed  of  his  ignorance  that 
he  applied  himself  immediately  to  the  study  of  Geog- 
raphy, and  became  as  eminent  for  his  knowledge  of 
it  as  he  was  for  his  critical  knowledge  of  the  dead 
languages. 

Moral  philosophy  as  taught  in  our  colleges  was 
declared  by  the  celebrated  Jonathan  Edwards,  to  be  a 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  241 

regular  system  of  instruction  in  practical  Deism. 

The  works  of  Dr.  Reid  and  Dr.  Beattie  have  pro- 
duced a  revolution  in  the  science  of  metaphysics  in 
our  American  seminaries.  It  is  now  very  properly 
limited  to  the  history  of  the  faculties  and  operations 
of  the  human  mind.  Very  different  were  its  objects 
in  one  of  our  Schools  about  five  and  thirty  years  ago. 
I  cannot  recollect,  even  at  this  distant  period  of  time, 
without  disgust,  my  having  been  compelled  to  listen 
for  several  hours  to  one  of  my  masters  while  he  talked 
of  possible  existences,  the  infinity  of  space,  the  ubiqui- 
ty of  spirit,  and  many  other  such  subtleties  of  the 
learning  of  the  13th  and  14th  centuries. 
"And  still  we  gazed  and  still  the  wonder  grew 
That  one  small  head,  should  [sic]  carry  all  he  knew." 

I  feel  myself  happy  in  being  able  to  do  justice  to 
the  good  sense  of  our  countrymen  in  the  rank  they 
have  given  to  mathematicks  in  all  our  seminaries.  We 
have  reason  to  complain  only  of  more  time  being  con- 
sumed in  teaching  some  of  its  speculative  branches, 
than  is  accommodated  to  the  present  exigencies  of  our 
country. 

A  laudable  zeal  has  likewise  been  discovered  in 
the  United  States  for  the  study  of  natural  philosophy. 
It  is  to  be  lamented  that  the  want  of  an  extensive  ap- 
paratus very  much  limits  instruction  in  this  important 
branch  of  science  in  all  our  American  seminaries. 


242  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

In  teaching  the  different  sciences  that  have  been 
mentioned  it  is  common  to  give  but  one  course  of 
each  of  them  to  a  class,  in  which  little  more  is  under- 
stood than  the  meaning  of  the  technical  terms  of  the 
science.  To  teach  them  perfectly,  they  should  be  re- 
peated two  or  three  times.  It  is  common  likewise  to 
oblige  students  to  read  upon  the  subjects  of  lectures 
before  they  hear  them,  and  afterwards  for  the  teacher 
to  ask  questions  upon  them.  This  is  an  inversion  of 
the  natural  order  of  instruction.  A  lecture  should  first 
be  given,  and  the  students  afterwards  be  interrogated 
upon  all  its  parts.  If  any  obscurity  should  remain  in 
their  minds,  they  should  be  encouraged  to  apply  pub- 
licly, or  privately  to  their  teacher  to  have  it  removed. 
In  this  way  Dr.  Priestly  taught  the  Academy  at  War- 
rington in  England,  and  to  it,  he  owed  most  of  his 
success  and  fame  as  a  teacher. 

From  a  review  of  what  has  been  said,  it  is  obvious 
that  learning  and  knowledge  are  distinct  things. 
Knowledge  consists  only  of  truth  of  which  words  are 
nothing  but  the  vehicles.  It  is  further  obvious  from 
the  facts  that  have  been  mentioned,  that  the  person 
we  call  a  scholar  has  commanded  an  undue  degree  of 
respect  from  the  world.  He  is  too  often  nothing  but 
a  living  vocabulary  of  dead  words.  I  should  be  glad 
to  see  the  term  banished  [from]  our  country  as  far  as 
it  relates  to  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages  and  the 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  243 

epithet  Philosopher, — a  well-informed  man,  and  good 
citizen — substituted  in  its  stead. 

We  have  rejected  hereditary  power  in  the  govern- 
ments of  our  country.  But  we  continue  the  willing 
subjects  of  a  system  of  education  imposed  upon  us  by 
our  ancestors  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centu- 
ries. Had  agriculture,  mechanics,  astronomy,  navi- 
gation and  medicine  been  equally  stationary,  how  dif- 
ferent from  the  present,  would  have  been  the  condi- 
tion of  mankind!  Considering  the  immense  influence 
which  the  art  of  printing,  commerce  and  the  discovery 
and  settlement  of  South  and  North  America  have  had 
upon  human  affairs  it  is  not  too  bold  to  assert  that 
there  is  scarcely  anything  just  or  proper  in  art  or 
science  that  was  believed  to  be  so,  two  hundred  vears 
ago. 

The  presses  of  Europe  and  America  have  lately 
teemed  with  publications  in  favor  of  the  rights  of  man. 
The  rights  of  women  have  likewise  been  asserted  with 
great  ingenuity  and  eloquence.  To  these  perform- 
ances I  should  be  glad  to  see  added  a  defence  of  the 
rights  of  school  boys.  Much  might  be  said  in  favor 
of  their  right  to  be  benefited  by  the  early  and  proper 
use  of  their  senses  in  becoming  acquainted  with  the 
works  of  nature  and  art,  —  to  acquire  ideas  before 
words, — to  be  instructed  in  the  means  of  maintaining 
a  familiar  and  correct  intercourse  with  the  world  by 


244  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

means  of  reading,  writing  and  arithmetic, — to  be  gov- 
erned at  school  by  the  principles  of  reason  and  human- 
ity,— to  the  inheritance  of  their  minds  unimpaired  by 
useless  and  debilitating  studies, — and  finally  of  their 
right  to  the  direction  of  their  faculties  to  those  pur- 
poses for  which  they  were  intended,  by  their  wise  and 
benevolent  Creator. 

I  am  aware  gentlemen  of  the  prejudices  which  are 
entertained  against  many  of  the  opinions  which  I  have 
delivered  in  the  course  of  this  lecture.  It  was  re- 
marked that  not  a  single  physician  who  was  above  for- 
ty years  of  age,  adopted  Dr.  Harvey's  discovery  of  the 
circulation  of  the  blood.  I  despair  of  making  proso- 
lytes  [sic]  among  men  who  have  passed  that  un- 
changeable period  of  life.  To  their  obloquy  I  shall 
submit  with  patience,  under  a  full  conviction  that  the 
rising  generation  of  which  you  compose  a  respectable 
part,  will  do  my  opinions  justice.  You  will  not  permit 
them  to  perish  with  the  name  of  their  author,  nor  to 
pass  away  with  the  hour  in  which  they  have  been  de- 
livered. 

7.    "REASONS  AGAINST  FOUNDING  A  COLLEGE  AT 
CARLISLE:    IRONICAL  BY   B.   RUSH." 

1.  As  it  has  been  found  by  long  experience  that  men 
are  easily  governed  in  proportion  as  they  are  ignorant, 
a  college  at  Carlisle  by  diffusing  light  and  knowledge 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  245 


\ 


over  the  western  parts  of  the  state  will  enable  a  sett 
of  wild  outlandish  people  to  think  for  themselves  and 
thereby  prevent  their  being  governed  for  the  future  by 
the  publications  and  private  letters  of  a  certain  secret 
Junto  in  Philadelphia. 

2.  A  College  at  Carlisle  will  encrease  the  number 
of  learned  men  in  the  state  and  thereby  diminish  the 
respect  that  is  due  to  a  few  learned  demagogues  in 
Philadelphia. 

3.  A  College  at  Carlisle  by  raising  up  a  number  of 
learned  and  eloquent  men  in  the  western  counties  of 
the  state  may  create  such  a  balance  to  the  wealth  and 
commerce  of  Philadelphia  as  may  prevent  those  coun- 
ties from  being  entirely  governed  as  in  former  times 
by  a  few  nabobs  in  Philadelphia. 

4.  A  College  at  Carlisle  from  its  situation  will  nec- 
essarily fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Presbyterians  who 
are  a  most  turbulent  Sett  of  people,  and  who  should 
not  be  permitted  to  herd  together,  least  they  should 
awaken  the  jealousies  of  other  religious  societies  who 
at  present  are  universally  in  love  with  Presbyterian 
manners — character — and  government  in  so  much  that 
in  a  few  years  it  is  probable  [if  Dr.  Rush,  and  two  or 
three  other  hot-headed  fanatics  do  not  prevent  it]  the 
whole  state  and  more  especially  the  tories  and  quakers 
will  adopt  the  Presbyterian  religion. 

5.  A  College  at  Carlisle  will  exhibit  a  new  phenom- 


246  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

ainon  in  the  history  of  literature — if  it  should  become 
the  property  of  one  religious  Society.  It  is  well  known 
the  colleges  at  Oxford  and  Cambridge  in  England — 
and  the  Universities  in  Scotland  are  all  held  equally 
by  Christians  of  every  religious  denomination.  It  is 
likewise  notorious  that  the  Episcopalians  possess  equal 
powers  and  privileges  in  the  Colleges  of  New  England 
with  the  independents, — that  the  Colleges  of  Williams- 
burgh  and  New  York  are  the  nurseries  of  Presbyteri- 
anism — and  that  the  College  of  New  Jersey  is  sup- 
ported by  trustees  and  teachers  chosen  alike  from 
Episcopalians — quakers — Baptists  —  Catholics  —  and 
Presbyterians. 

6.  A  College  at  Carlisle  by  gratifying  a  part  of  the 
Presbyterians  may  lead  them  to  consent  to  deliver  up 
the  College  of  Philadelphia  to  its  original  owners  who 
founded  it,  but  who  from  being  tories  and  republicans 
have  justly  forfeited  the  same — it  being  a  fixed  maxim 
in  government  that  no  man,  or  bodies  of  men  should 
hold  property  or  charters  of  incorporation  who  do  not 
think  exactly  upon  all  points  with  a  certain  Junto  in 
Philadelphia. 

7.  A  College  at  Carlisle  will  discover  an  inconsist- 
ency in  the  conduct  and  character  of  Dr.  Ewing  who 
first  projected  it  about  eleven  years  ago  and  who 
crossed  the  Ocean  on  purpose  to  obtain  a  fund  for  a 
Presbyterian  Academy  at  Newark,  but  who  is  now  a 


EDUCATIONAL   WRITINGS  247 

convert  to  those  systems  of  education  and  charter, 
which  unite  all  Sects  of  Christians  together  in  a  uni- 
versity by  which  means  the  tenets  and  mode  of  wor- 
ship of  no  one  Sect  can  be  taught,  or  established,  and 
thus  religion  which  was  formerly  crammed  down  the 
throats  of  boys  at  school  will  be  kept  out  of  sight,  and 
young  men  will  be  left  until  they  are  of  age  to  chuse 
principles  and  a  mode  of  worship  for  themselves, 
which  from  the  nature  of  the  human  heart — from  the 
usual  effects  of  learning — from  the  advantages  of  liv- 
ing a  number  of  years  in  a  large  trading  city,  cannot 
fail  of  being  wisest  and  best. 

8.  A  College  at  Carlisle  by  diffusing  a  similarity 
of  manners,  principles  and  opinions  among  the  Presby- 
terians may  prove  the  means  of  uniting  them  and 
thereby  of  rendering  them  respectable  and  of  course 
formidable  in  the  eyes  of  other  religious  societies.  It 
may  likewise  prove  a  nursery  of  wise  and  good  men 
both  in  the  church  and  state  who  from  being  edu- 
cate [d]  Presbyterians  may  give  reputation  to  that  So- 
ciety, and  enable  them  not  only  to  acquire,  but  hold 
a  due  proportion  of  [the]  power  of  the  state. 

9.  A  College  at  Carlisle  in  the  hands  of  one  relig- 
ious Society  will  deprive  the  state  of  the  principal  ad- 
vantages of  the  revolution  which  was  intended  to  de- 
stroy bigotry  and  all  distinctions  of  Sects  among 
Christians,  insomuch  that  the  quakers — Roman  Catho- 

9 


248  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

lies — and  Presbyterians  will  in  a  short  time  worship  in 
the  same  churches  and  perform  alternately  the  same 
religious  ceremonies,  thereby  manifesting  that  our  an- 
cestors who  contended  for  what  they  called  truth  and 
simplicity  in  doctrine  and  worship  were  fools,  and 
that  we  are  the  only  liberal  and  enlightened  people 
that  ever  lived  in  the  world. 
Philadelphia,  May  20,  1783. 

8.   DR.  RUSH'S  LETTER  TO  DR.  NISBET  INFORMING 

THE  LATTER  OF  HIS   ELECTION  AS  "PRINCIPAL" 

OF  DICKINSON  COLLEGES^ 

Herewith  you  will  receive  a  letter  from  his  Excel- 
lency Governor  Dickinson,  enclosing  an  account  of 
your  being  elected  Principal  of  Dickinson  College  to- 
gether with  a  small  bill  of  exchange  to  assist  in  de- 
fraying the  expences  [sic]  of  your  voyage  to  this 
country. 

I  beg  leave  to  congratulate  you  upon  this  event. 
The  honor  intended  you  by  this  appointment  will  be 
more  highly  esteemed  when  I  add  that  your  election 
was  unanimous.  No  name  was  set  in  competition  with 
yours.  Indeed,  Sir,  so  highly  do  the  trustees  conceive 
of  your  Character  and  Qualifications  that  all  their 
hopes   of  success   in   establishing  their   College   now 

"This  is  taken  from  a  copy  in  Rush's  hand  preserved  for 
us  in  a  little  yellow  backed  notebook  among  the  Rush  papers 
at  the  Ridgway  Library. 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  249 

seem  to  depend  upon  your  accepting  of  their  appoint- 
ment and  if  to  live  with  people  of  principles  congenial 
to  your  own  in  religion  and  government ;  if  to  fill  a 
station  the  highest  &  most  respectable  that  a  Minister 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  can  arrive  to  in  any  part 
of  the  World ;  if  to  form  the  Opinions,  morals,  and 
manners  of  the  rising  generation  of  half  a  state;  and 
above  all,  if  to  diffuse  the  blessings  of  science  and 
religion  over  a  tract  of  Country  many  hundred  [miles] 
in  extent;  if  any  or  all  of  these  Considerations  are 
allowed  to  have  their  proper  weight  with  you  I  am 
sure  you  will  not,  you  cannot  hesitate  in  complying 
with  our  invitation. 

To  reconcile  your  mind  to  changing  your  Country, 
I  beg  leave  to  submit  the  following  facts  to  your 
knowledge.  The  board  of  Trustees  consists  of  40  gen- 
tlemen who  (when  I  except  myself)  are  all  men  of  the 
first  character  for  probity,  public  spirit  &  property 
in  the  state. 

Mr.  Dickinson  our  present  worthy  governor  and 
the  illustrious  author  of  the  farmers  [sic]  Letters  is 
President  of  our  board.  Thirteen  of  our  number  are 
Clergymen,  nine  of  whom  are  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  You  cannot  fail  of  being  happy  in  the  society 
of  these  latter  gentlemen.  They  are  in  general  men  of 
learning  (educated  chiefly  by  Dr.  Wetherspoon  [sic] 
and  are  all  Calvanists   [sic]   in  their  religious  princi- 


250  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

pies.  Two  or  three  of  them  intend  to  write  to  you  at 
the  meeting  of  our  synod  which  will  be  sometime  next 
month.  The  board  of  trustees  is  composed  of  men  of 
all  sects  altho  a  majorit}^  of  them  are  Presbyterians, 
but  the  Charter  of  the  College  allows  no  exclusive 
priviledges  [sic]  to  any  one  religious  society.  As  our 
state  is  inhabited  by  people  of  different  denominations, 
it  is  thought  the  interest  of  the  institution  will  be  pro- 
moted by  electing  under  you  some  professors  of  the 
most  respectable  sects  in  the  state.  This  cannot  fail 
of  adding  to  your  importance  and  usefulness.  It  will 
give  our  Society  an  opportunity  (too  often  neglected 
in  America)  of  showing  that  we  are  not  strangers  to 
tolleration  [sic]  and  it  will  teach  our  youth  to  exercise 
liberality  and  charity  towards  those  who  differ  from 
them  in  their  religious  tenets. 

The  town  of  Carlisle  lies  120  miles  to  the  westward 
of  Philadelphia  and  about  18  miles  from  the  river 
Susquehannah.  It  consists  of  about  300  houses  most 
of  which  are  built  of  lime  stone.  It  lies  in  a  healthy 
and  fertile  plain  bounded  on  the  north  and  south  by 
two  high  mountains ;  within  one  mile  of  the  town 
there  winds  a  small  river  called  by  the  Indian  name 
of  Canedoguinet  which  after  distributing  fertility  and 
wealth  by  watering  meadows  and  turning  a  number  of 
mills  empties  itself  into  the  Susquehannah. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Carlisle  are  in  gen- 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  251 

eral  an  orderly  people.  Two  or  three  general  officers 
who  served  with  reputation  in  our  army ;  four  or  five 
lawyers ;  a  regular  bred  physician  and  a  few  gentle- 
men in  trade  of  general  knowledge  and  fair  characters 
compose  the  society  of  the  town.  There  are  three 
churches  in  this  village ;  the  largest  belongs  to  the 
Presbyterians ;  the  other  two  (which  are  very  small) 
belong  to  the  Episcopalians  and  the  German  Luther- 
ans. Neither  of  them  are  [sic]  provided  w^ith  minis- 
ters. A  Mr.  Davidson  is  talked  of  for  the  first.  He 
is  a  man  of  letters  and  will  with  a  small  addition  to 
his  salary,  make  an  useful  [sic]  addition  to  our  faculty 
of  Professors.  If  your  preaching  should  prove  accept- 
able to  the  Presbyterian  Congregation,  I  think  it  high- 
ly probable  that  they  will  add  £50  a  year  to  your 
salary  as  Principal  of  the  College.  But  the  trustees  I 
believe  will  not  consent  to  your  performing  any  other 
parochial  duty.  A  sermon,  once  a  week  will  be  ex- 
pected from  you  for  the  benefit  of  the  pupils.  I  sup- 
pose it  will  be  needless  to  inform  you  that  as  Principal 
of  the  College  it  is  expected  that  [you]  will  not  only 
govern  the  College,  but  concur  in  teaching  some  of  the 
Arts  and  Sciences.  You  will  have  your  choice  of  such 
a  branch  or  branches  as  are  most  agreeable  to  you. 
Only  two  or  three  hours  a  day  will  be  employed  in  this 
duty.  A  system  of  education  in  Divinity  is  much 
wanted  in  America.     Perhaps  this  may  be  your  only 


252  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

Professorship.  A  course  of  lectures  on  government 
including  not  only  the  principles  of  Constitutions  but 
practical  legislation  will  be  very  acceptable  in  this 
country  and  very  necessary  in  our  republic.  From 
your  character  and  principles  I  conceive  you  would  be 
very  useful  in  communicating  instruction  upon  these 
subjects. 

Our  College  is  as  yet  a  new  born  infant.  It  has  all 
the  parts  and  faculties  but  they  require  growth  and 
extension.  To  you  sir,  it  lifts  up  its  head.  To  you, 
to  you,  alone,  under  God,  it  looks  for  support  and 
nourishment.  Your  name  is  now  in  everybody's 
mouth.  The  Germans  attempt  to  pronounce  it  in  bro- 
ken English.  The  natives  of  Ireland  and  the  descend- 
ants of  Irishmen  have  carried  it  to  the  western  coun- 
ties. The  Juniata  and  Ohio  have  borne  it  on  their 
streams  thro'  every  township  in  the  state  that  lies  be- 
yond Carlisle.  Our  Saints  pray  to  you  as  the  future 
Apostle  of  the  church  in  this  part  of  the  world.  Our 
patriots  long  to  thank  you  for  defending  the  cause  of 
America  at  a  time  when  and  in  a  place  where  she  had 
few  friends.  And  our  statesmen  wish  to  see  our  youth 
formed  by  you  for  the  various  duties  they  owe  to  the 
public. 

I  beg  leave  to  inform  you  that  the  trustees  of  the 
college  do  not  expect  that  £50  sterling  will  defray  the 
expenses  of  the  passage  of  your  family  to  America. 


EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  253 

It  is  upon  this  account  that  they  voted  that  your  sal- 
ary should  commence  on  the  day  of  your  embarkation. 
If  you  should  incur  any  unexpected  expences  beyond 
the  amount  of  £50  and  the  sum  that  will  be  due  you 
upon  your  arrival  I  have  no  doubt  but  the  trustees  will 
defray  them  with  the  greatest  cheerfulness. 

I  think  the  less  furniture  you  bring  over  with  you 
the  better.  Your  library  cannot  be  replaced  in  Amer- 
ica. A  few  hundred  pounds  may  be  laid  out  to  great 
advantage  in  a  farm  in  the  neighborhood  of  Carlisle, 
which  will  nearly  maintain  your  family. 

Lands  now  sell  there  with  good  improvements  for 
£2  and  £3  sterling  an  acre.  The  expense  of  provi- 
sions at  Carlisle  is  I  believe  nearly  the  same  as  at 
Montrose. 

I  have  neglected  to  give  you  a  history  of  the  diffi- 
culties we  have  surmounted  in  bringing  our  College  to 
its  present  agreeable  situation  and  prospects.  Ignor- 
ance, prejudice,  party-spirit,  self-interest  and  jealousy 
have  all  in  their  turns  opposed  it.  From  some  of  these 
sources  you  may  perhaps  receive  information  and  ad- 
vice unfriendly  to  our  wishes.  Only  think  and  act  for 
yourself  and  we  shall  be  satisfied.  Qur  [word  illegible, 
perhaps  Views]  and  Characters  will  bear  the  severest 
examination.  I  honour  Dr.  Witherspoon  for  his  abili- 
ties. He  has  diffused  a  great  deal  of  true  wisdom 
through  our  country,  but  I  am  sorry  to  add  that  he 


254  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

did  not  carry  the  same  Character  back  with  him  to 
Scotland  that  he  brought  from  it  to  America.  "Dema-: 
hath  forsaken  me,  having  loved  this  present  world." 
This,  my  dear  friend,  must  not  be  read  to  anybody  ex- 
cept to  the  Doctor  himself.  I  love  the  principles  he 
has  espoused  too  much  to  hurt  them  by  a  hint  to  his 
disadvantage,  especially  in  Scotland. 

I  thought  it  necessary  to  write  thus  freely  to  you 
upon  the  subject  of  the  Doctor's  character,  as  I  am 
well  informed  that  he  said  just  before  he  embarked 
that  "you  should  not  come  to  America  if  he  could 
prevent  it."  The  Doctor's  son-in-law,  the  Reverend 
Doctor  Smith,  a  man  of  sound  learning  and  excellent 
character  who  now  presides  over  the  Jersey  College 
is  warmly  attached  to  our  institution  and  rejoices  in 
the  prospect  of  your  becoming  a  fellow  labourer  with 
him  in  the  education  of  youth  in  this  country.  He 
considers,  very  properly,  Dickinson  College  as  the 
sister  College  of  Nassau  Hall. 

We  shall  look  for  you  with  great  impatience  next 
fall.  A  letter  from  you  as  soon  as  possible  after  this 
comes  to  your  hands  will  be  very  acceptable. 

I  have  only  to  offer  you  my  house  as  your  home 
upon  your  arrival  in  our  city.  My  dear  Mrs.  Rush 
joins  in  compliments  to  Mrs.  Nesbit.  She  will  do  her 
utmost  to  make  her  forget  her  native  country  and  to 
make  her  happy  in  Pennsylvania 


APPENDIX 

THE  TRUSTEES   OF   DICKINSON    COLLEGE 


The  following  is  tiie  complete  roll  of  the  Trustees  of 
Dickinson  College  down  to  the  death  of  Doctor  Rush,  in 
1813.  He  served  the  College  for  a  period  of  just  thirty  years, 
(1783 — 1813).  And  at  the  close  of  that  period  there  were 
remaining  in  office  but  four  of  the  original  board  of  forty, 
which   had   launched   the   institution    through   his   endeavors 

John    Dickinson,    LL.  D (1783-1808) 

Col.  Henry  Hill  (1783-1798) 

James  Wilson,  LL.  D (1783-1798) 

William    Bingham (1783-1804) 

Benjamin  Rush,  M.D.,  LL.D (1783-1813) 

James    Boyd    (1783-1787) 

John  McDowell  (1783-1825) 

*Henry  Muhlenberg,  D.D (1783-1815) 

*William  Hendel  (1783-1802) 

James   Jacks    (1783-1802) 

*John    Black   (1783-1802) 

^Alexander    Dobbin (1783-1809) 

*John  McKnight,  D.D (1783-1794) 

James    Ewing   (1783-1810) 

Robert  McPherson  (1783-1789) 

Henry  Slagle  (1783-1810) 

Thomas    Hartley   (1783-1801) 

Michael  Hahn  (1783-1792) 

*John  King,  D.D (1783-1813) 

*Robert  Cooper,  D.D (1783-1805) 


256  BENJAMIN   RUSH 

*James    Lang (1783-1798) 

*Samiiel  Waugh  (1783-1807) 

*William   Linn,   D.D (1783-1787) 

*John   Linn   (1783-1821) 

John   G.   Armstrong (1783-1794) 

John    Montgomery    (1783-1808) 

Stephen    Duncan    (1783-1794) 

Thomas   Smith   (1783-1809) 

Robert  Magaw  (1783-1790) 

Samuel  A.  McCloskey  (1783-1815) 

^Christopher  E.  Schulze :.(1783-1788) 

Peter    Spyker    (1783-1794) 

John   Arndt   (1783-1788) 

William   Montgomery (1783-1794) 

William  Maclay  (1783-1796) 

Barnard    Dougherty (1783-1792) 

Col.   David   Espy (1783-1795) 

*James   Sutton   (1783-1784) 

Alexander    McClean (1783-1788) 

William  McCleery  (1783-1788) 

*Nicholas    Kurtz (1784-1796) 

♦Joseph    Montgomery (1787-1794) 

♦James   Latta,    D.D (1787-1801) 

William  Irvine  (1788-1803) 

Robert  Johnston   (1788-1808) 

*Patrick  Alison,  D.D  (1788-1788) 

♦James  Snodgrass  (1788-1833) 

John    Creigh (1788-1813) 

Joseph    Thornburg (1789-1799) 

Thomas   Duncan,   LL.D (1790-1816) 

George  Stevenson  (1792-1827) 

Ephraim   Blaine   (1792-1804) 

♦Robert  Cathcart,  D.D (1794-1833) 

♦Nathaniel   R.   Snowdon (1794-1827) 

Samuel   Laird   (1794-1807) 

Charles   McClure  (1794-1811) 

James    Hamilton (1794-1820) 


APPENDIX 


257 


Michael   Ege  

Samuel   Weakley  

*John   Campbell,   D.D 

James   Armstrong  

*Thomas    McPhcrrin 

James    Riddle    

Francis    Gurney   

Charles   Smith,   LL.D 

*David    Denny    

David  Watts  

*Joshna   Williams,    D.D 

*John    Young    

Robert  Coleman  

*David   McConaughy,   D.D. 

Hugo  H.   Brackenridge 

*Francis   Herron,    D.D 

Jonathan  Walker  

*Nathan    Grier 

^Jonathan  Helfenstein  

James    Duncan 

James    Gustine    

William  Alexander  

Jacob   Hendel  

^Robert  Davidson,  D.D 

William  M.   Brown 

Robert  Blaine  -, 

'"Minister. 


.(1794- 
.(1795- 
.(1796- 
.(1796- 
(1798- 
.(1798- 
.(1798- 
.(1799- 
.(1801- 
.(1801- 
.(1802- 
.(1802- 
-(1802- 
.(1802- 
.(1803- 
.(1803- 
.(1804- 
.(1805- 
.(1807- 
-(1807- 
.(1808- 
-(1808- 
-(1808- 
-(1807- 
.(1809- 
.(1811- 


1815) 
1821) 
1820) 
1826) 
1802) 
1833) 
1815) 
1824) 
1833) 
1820) 
1821) 
1803) 
1826) 
1834) 
1816) 
1816) 
1824) 
1814) 
1826) 
1808) 
1820) 
1814) 
1833) 
1812) 
1827) 
1826) 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


1.    INTRODUCTION 


The  Ridgway  Library  of  Philadelphia  has  by  far  the 
largest  collection  of  materials  for  a  study  of  the  life  and 
work  of  Doctor  Rush.  Here  is  his  correspondence  in  forty- 
two  large  volumes,  referred  to  throughout  this  book  as 
"Rush  MSS."  The  letters  cover  nearly  his  whole  life,  from 
boyhood  to  his  death  in  1813.  There  is  a  very  great  variety 
in  the  subject  matter  of  the  correspondence.  But  the  largest 
portion,  by  a  good  deal,  has  to  do  with  medical  matters. 
Four  volumes  are  required  to  hold  the  letters  on  yellow 
fever.  Volumes  forty-one  and  forty-two  contain  most  of  the 
material  for  my  chapter  on  Dickinson  College.  The  entire 
collection  is  completely  indexed. 

Besides  the  correspondence,  there  are  also  several  of 
Doctor  Rush's  Note  and  Commonplace  Books.  One  of  these 
he  called  "Letters  and  Thoughts"  and  another  "Letters, 
Facts  and  Observations  upon  a  Variety  of  Subjects."  Both 
of  them  contain  a  wealth  of  very  interesting  historical  ma- 
terial. But  the  latter  is  no  longer  as  interesting  as  it  once 
was.  About  half  its  pages  were  removed  by  Doctor  Rush 
himself  as  he  reported  in  a  letter  to  John  Adams,  (Rush  MSS. 
Vol.  29,  p.  135).  These  lost  pages— about  one  hundred  in 
all — contained  practically  the  whole  of  Doctor  Rush's  col- 
lection of  anecdotes  about  all  the  chief  characters  of  the 
American  Revolution.  The  table  of  contents  has  escaped 
destruction  and  makes  promises  of  interesting  gossip  about 
Sullivan,  Greene,  Lee  and  the  rest;    promises  unfulfilled. 

The  Ridgway  Library  also  contains  copies  of  many  of 
Doctor   Rush's  numerous   publications.     The   Library  of  the 


260  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

College  of  Physicians  (Philadelphia)  also  has  a  large  col- 
lection, more  particularly  those  on  medical  subjects.  The 
Library  of  the  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society  and  that  of 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania  each  contain  material  not 
found   elsewhere. 

The  works  written  by  Doctor  Rush  are  arranged  in 
chronological  order  within  each  of  a  number  of  groups  as 
"On  Education,"  "Medical  Works,"  and  so  forth.  The  ar- 
rangement of  the  various  groups  themselves  is  arbitrary  but 
what  that  arrangement  is  may  be  seen  in  the  general  table 
of  contents.  In  order  to  save  space  much  of  the  descriptive 
matter  in  the  very  lengthy  eighteenth  century  titles  is  omit- 
ted. The  titles  given  are  therefore  in  most  cases  abbreviated. 
Enough  has  been  retained  in  each  case,  I  trust,  to  identify 
the  works  with  certainty.  The  secondary  sources  are  ar- 
ranged alphabetically  by  authors. 

In  general,  no  account  is  taken  of  the  various  and  nu- 
merous articles  and  items  published  by  Doctor  Rush  in  the 
periodical  and  newspaper  press,  unless  these  were  also  pub- 
lished in  book  or  pamphlet  form.  And  all  except  the  very 
ephemeral  were  so  published.  Exception  is  made  to  this 
rule  with  regard  to  the  educational  writings.  Of  these  I  have 
listed  all  I  could  find,  in  whatever  form  they  may  have  been 
published. 

2.    AUTOBIOGRAPHY 

A  Memorial  Containing  Travels  Through  Life  or  Sundry 
Incidents  in  the  Life  of  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush.  Born  Dec.  24, 
1745  (Old  Style).  Died  April  19,  1813.  Written  by  Himself; 
also  Extracts  from  his  Commonplace  Book,  as  well  as  a 
Short  History  of  the  Rush  Family  in  Pennsylvania.  Pub- 
lished privately  for  the  benefit  of  his  descendants  by  Louis 
Alexander  Biddle,  Lanoraie.    1905. 

[The  history  of  the  Rush  family  is  by  H.  J.  Williams.] 

3.    ON  EDUCATION 

Essays,  Literary,  Moral  and  Philosophical. 

Phila.    T.  and  S.  F.  Bradford.    1798.  pp  viii  +  378. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  261 

2  ed.  with  additions.    Phila.    T.  and  W.  Bradford. 

1806.   pp.  8  +  364. 

[The  "additions"  consisted  of  an  essay  on  "Premature 
Deaths".] 

A  Plan  for  the  establishment  of  public  schools  and  the  diffu- 
sion of  knowledge  in  Pennsylvania;  to  which  are  added, 
Thoughts  upon  the  mode  of  education  proper  in  a  re- 
public. 

Phila.    T.  Dobson.    1786.    pp.  36. 

[These  two  papers  are  the  first  and  second  respectively 
of  the  collected  Essays,  but  the  title  of  the  first  was 
changed  slightly  and  the  body  of  the  second  was  con- 
siderably modified  and  abridged.  (See  p.  214  and  not^e, 
p.  219).  The  latter  was  w^ritten  to  be  laid  before  the 
Board  of  Trustees  of  Dickinson  College  in  1784.  It  was 
finished  early  in  March  of  that  year.  (See  Rush  MSS. 
Vol.  41,  p.  60.)] 

Thoughts  upon  female  education  .  .  .  addressed  to  the  Visit- 
ors of  the  Young  Ladies'  Academy  in  Philadelphia.  .  ,  . 

.      Phila.    Prichard  and  Hall.    1787    pp.  32. 

Columbian  Mag.,  Apr.  and   May,   1790.    Essays,    p.  75  ff. 

Syllabus  of  lectures,  containing  the  application  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  natural  philosophy  and  chemistry  to  domestic 
and    culinary    purposes.     Composed   for    the    use    of   the 
Young  Ladies'  Academy  in  Philadelphia. 
Phila.    1787.    pp.  6. 

Address  to  the  people  of  the  United  States. 

Amer.   Museum.    Jan.,   1787.    Papers  Amer.   Hist.  Ass'n., 

IV.  p.  82  ff. 

Niles'   Principles  and  Acts  of  the   Revolution,    p.  402  ff. 

Frank  Moore's   American   Eloquence.    New  York.    1895. 

[This  "address"  contains  the  earliest  extended  outline  of 

a  "Federal"    (or  National)    University,  that  I  have  been 

able  to  find.     It  antedates  by  several  months,  Madison's 

proposal  in  the  Federal  Convention.] 
To  the  Citizens  of  Philadelphia  and  of  the  districts  of  South- 


262  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

wark    and    the    Northern    Liberties.       [A    plea    for    free 

schools.] 

Independent  Gaz.,  Mar.  28,  1787. 
Plan  of  a  Federal  University.    Fed.  Gaz.  Oct.  29,  1788;  Penna. 

Gaz.,  1788;    Amer.  Museum,  Nov.,  1788;    Mass.   Centinel, 

Nov.  29,  1788;   Amer.  Hist.  Ass'n.  Papers,  IV.   p.  79  f?. 
Directions  for  conducting  a  newspaper  in  such  a  manner  as 

to  make  it  innocent,  useful  and  entertaining. 

Fed.  Gaz.,  Oct.  1,  1788;    Amer.  Museum,  May,  1789. 
Thoughts    upon    amusements    and    punishments    which    are 

proper  for  schools. 

Phila.    1790.    pp.  8.    Columbian  Mag.,  Aug.,  1790.    Essays, 

p.  56  fT. 
An  Address  delivered  at  the  Commencement   [medical]   held 

in  the   College  of  Philadelphia.   Dec.   15,   1790. 

Amer.  Museum,  Dec,  1790;    Columbian  Mag.,  Dec,  1790. 
An  Enquiry  into  the  utility  of  a  knowledge  of  the  Latin  and 

Greek  Languages  as  a  branch  of  liberal  education  with 

hints  of  a  plan  of  liberal  instruction  without  them. 

Amer.  Museum,  June,  1789. 

[Title  in  the  Essays  changed  slightly.] 
Extract  of  a  letter  from  Rev.  James  Muir  to  Dr.  Rush  and 

Dr.   Rush's  reply. 

Amer.  Museum.  Aug.,  1791.    Essays,    p.  50fiF. 
A  Defence  of  the  use  of  the  Bible  as  a  school-book  in  a  letter 

to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Jeremy  Belknap  of  Boston. 

Amer.  Museum,  Mar..  1791.    Essays,    p.  93fif. 
On  the  means  of  promoting  medical  knowledge.    Read  before 

the  College  of  Physicians  1787  and  printed  in  their  trans- 
actions Vol.  I.  part  I.   (1793). 
An  Account  of  the  life  and  character  of  Christopher  Ludwig 

.  .  .  baker-general  of  the  army  of  the  United  States,  etc. 

Phila.    Phila.  Soc  for  Support  of  Charity  Schools.    1831. 

pp.  61. 
Constitution    and    By-Laws    of   the    Philadelphia   Society    for 

the    Establishment    and    Support    of    Charity    Schools. 

Phila.  1860. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  263 

[This  contains  the  "Account"  of  Christopher  Ludwig 
•which  is  the  only  portion  of  it  written  by  Rush.  Colonel 
Alexander  Graydon's  estimate  of  Ludwig  differs  essen- 
tially from  that  of  Rush.  See  Graydon's,  Memoirs  of  a 
life  spent  in  Pennsylvania.] 

4.    MEDICAL  WORKS 

Medical    inquiries    and    observations.     Phila.     Prichard    and 
Hall.    1789.    pp.a06. 

2  ed.  with  additions.    London.    Dilly,   1789.    pp.  261. 
2  American  ed.    Phila.    1794. 

[This  is  Volume  I  of  Dr.  Rush's  Medical  Works.  It  was 
dedicated  to  Dr.  John  Redman,  M.  D.  "Two  reasons 
have  determined  me  to  inscribe  to  you  the  following 
Inquiries  and  Observations.  They  are  the  fruits  of 
studies  which  began  under  your  direction;  and  they 
require  the  protection  of  a  respectable  medical  name," 
etc.] 

Medical  inquiries  and  observations.     Vol.  II.  Phila.  Dobson. 

1793.   pp.  iv4-321. 
^Phila.    Dobson.    1794—98.    5  vols. 

Vol.  1.  2Amer.  ed.   1794.    "] 

Vol.  II.  2  edition.  1797.  |  [This  is  generally  regarded 
Vol.  III.  1794.  j-     as  the  first  complete  edition 

Vol.  IV.  1796.  of  the  "Medical  Works."] 

Vol.  V.  1798. 

2    ed.    rev.    and    enlarged.      Phila.     Conrad.     1805. 

4  vols. 
3  ed.  rev.  and  enlarged.    Phila.    Hopkins  et  al.  1809. 

4  vols. 

4  ed.    Phila.    Bennet.    1815.    4  vols. 

5  ed.    Phila.    Carey.    1848.    4  vols. 


Medical  inquiries  and  observations  upon  diseases  of  the  mind. 
Phila.    Kimber  and   Richardson.    1812.    pp.  viii  +  367. 
[This  work  has  given  its  author  the  title  "The  Father  of 
American   Psychiatry."] 


264  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

2  ed.    Phila.    Richardson.    1818. 

3  ed.    Phila.    Grigg.    1827. 

4  ed.    Phila.    Grigg.    1827. 

5  ed.    Phila.    Grigg  and  Elliot.    1835. 

Medizinische  Untersuchungen  und  Beobachtungen  iiber  die 
Seelen-Krankheiten.  Translated  by  Georg  Konig.  Leip- 
zig.   Knobloch.    1825.    pp.  xiv  +  298. 

Dissertatio  Physica  Inauguralis,  de  concoctione  ciborum  in 
ventriculo. 

Edinburgh.  Balfour.  1768.  pp.  30.  [This  is  dedicated  to 
B.  Franklin]. 

A  Syllabus  of  a  course  of  lectures  on  chemistry  for  the  use 
of  the  students  of  medicine  in  the   College  of  Philadel- 
phia. 
Phila.    Cist.    1773.    pp.  39. 

Experiments  and  observations  on  the  mineral  waters  of 
Philadelphia,  Abington  and  Bristol.  Phila.  Humphreys. 
1773.    pp.  30. 

[See  Hildeburn's  A  Century  of  Printing  for  a  very  amu- 
sing story  about  this  book.] 

An  Enquiry  into  the  natural  history  of  medicine  among  the 
Indians. 

Phila.    Crukshank.    [1774].    pp.   118. 

[This  performance  was  severely  criticised  by  Dr.  Huck 
of  London  to  whom  it  was  dedicated.  See  Rush  MSS. 
vol.  8.    p.  165.] 

Directions  for  preserving  the  health  of  soldiers.  Adopted  by 
the  Board  of  War,  Sept.  1777;  and  reprinted  by  Cut- 
brush,  1808,  under  the  title.  Observations  on  the  means 
of  preserving  the  health  of  soldiers  and  sailors. 

The  New  Method  of  inoculating  for  the  small-pox. 
Phila.    Cist.    1781.    pp.  28. 

2  ed.    [?] 

3  ed.  Phila.    Hall.    1792.   pp.  26. 

Directions  for  the  use  of  the  mineral  water  and  cold  bath  at 
Harrogate. 
Phila.    Steiner.    1786.    pp.  12. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  265 

Observations  on  the  duties  of  a  physician. 

Phila.    Prichard  and  Hall.    1789.    pp.  11. 
An  Account  of  the  Climate  of  Pennsylvania. 

Phila.    Prichard  and  Hall.    1789. 
A  defence  of  bloodletting  as  a  remedy  for  certain  diseases. 

Phila.    1796. 
A  Syllabus  of  a  course  of  lectures  on  the  institutes  and  prac- 
tice of  medicine.    Phila.    Bradford.    1798.    pp.   19. 
Three  lectures  upon  animal  life.    Phila.    Dobson.    1799.    pp. 

viii  +  84.     [Apparently   reprinted   about    1809.] 
Six    Introductory    Lectures    to    Courses    upon    the    institutes 

and   practice    of   medicine.      Phila.     Conrad    et   al.     1801. 

pp.  163. 
An   Inquiry  into  the  various   sources   of  the   usual  forms  of 

summer  and  autumnal  diseases  in  the  United  States. 

Phila.    Conrad.    1805.    pp.   113. 
An  Inquiry  into  the  functions  of  the  spleen,  liver,  pancreas 

and  thyroid  gland.    Phila.    1806.    pp.  29. 

[The    copy   at   the    Ridgway    Library   has    a   manuscript 

note   in   Dr.   Rush's   handwriting  saying  this   was   trans- 
lated into  French.] 
A  Charge  delivered  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  to  the 

graduates  in  medicine.    Phila.    1810.    pp.  7. 
Sixteen  Introductory  Lectures  to  courses  upon  the  institutes 

and  practice  of  medicine,  with  a  syllabus  of  the  latter. 

Phila.    Bradford   and   Inskeep.    1811.    pp.   xiii  +  455. 

[This    contains    the    Six    Introductory    Lectures    above 

mentioned  and  ten  new  ones.] 
[Many  papers  on  medical  subjects  were  also  printed  in 
various  periodicals,  particularly  the  American  Museum,  the 
Columbian  Magazine,  the  Eclectic  Repertory,  He  contrib- 
uted six  papers  to  the  Transactions  of  the  American  Philo- 
sophical Society.] 

[The  various  Philadelphia  libraries  contain  a  number  of  sets 
of  notes  (in  manuscript)  taken  by  Dr.  Rush's  medical  pupils. 
The  Library  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  has  notes 
taken  by 


266  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

John  Spangler.    2  vols.    1790. 

William   Simonton.    4   vols.     1791. 

Moses  Bartram.    2  vols.    n.  d.   (on  chemistry). 

Anon.    n.  d.  (on  chemistry). 

Anon.    2  vols.    n.  d.   (medical). 
At  the  Library  of  the  Pa.  Hist.  Soc.  there  is  one  volume  of 
MS.  notes  taken  by  William  Martin,  1793  or  later. 
The    College    of    Physicians    Library   has    the    follov^ing,    the 
largest  collection  of  all: 

Lectures  on  the  mind.    [pp.  954]  n.  d. 

Robert  Alison,  1771  or  later. 

T.  C.  James,  1786. 

Elijah    Griffiths,    1797-98. 

William  Darlington,  1802-04. 

Benjamin  Archer,  1804. 

T.  D.  Mitchell,  1809-11. 

J.  G.  Shippen,  1809-10. 

M.  Clark,  Jr.,  1809-11. 

There  are  also  two  anon,  sets,  one  of  two  and  the  other 

of  three  volumes.] 

5.    ON  YELLOW  FEVER 

An  Inquiry  into  the  origin  of  the  late  epidemic  fever  in 
Philadelphia. 

In  a  letter  to  Dr.  John  Redman,  President  of  the  College 
of  Physicians. 
Phila.    M.  Carey.    1793.    pp.  15. 

An  Account  of  the  bilious  remitting  yellow  fever  as  it  ap- 
peared in  the  city  of  Philadelphia  in  the  year  1793. 
Phila.    T.  Dobson.    1794.    pp.  x  4-363.  ' 

Edinburgh.    Symington.    1796.    pp.  xii  +  248. 

Beschreibung  des  gelben  Fiebers,  welches  im  Jahre  1793  in 
Philadelphia  herrschte  u.s.w.  Tubingen,  Cotta.  1796. 
pp.  xlviii-t-472. 

Address  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  and  liberties  of  Phila- 
delphia,  by   a   friend   to   mankind.     Phila.     Sept.   6,    1797, 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  267 

[This  is  a  poster  urging  precautionary  measures  against 

the  fever.] 
Proofs  of  the  origin  of  the  yellow  fever  in  Philadelphia  and 

Kensington  in   the  year  1797,   from   domestic  exhalation, 

etc. 

Phila.     [Printed   by   the    Bradfords   for   the   Academy   of 

Medicine  of  Philadelphia.]    1798.    pp.  49. 

[This  was  only  in  part  written  by  Rush.] 
Observations    upon    the    origin    of    the    malignant    bilious    or 

yellow  fever  in  Philadelphia,  and  upon  the  means  of  pre- 
venting it. 

Phila.    Dobson.    1799.    pp.  28. 
A  Second  Address  to  the  citizens  of  Philadelphia  containing 

additional  proofs  of  the  domestic  origin  of  the  malignant 

bilious   or  yellow   fever. 

Phila.  1799. 
Relacion    de   la   calentura   biliosa   remitente   amarilla,   que   se 

manifesto  en  Filadelfia  en  el  afio  de  1793.  Madrid.    1804. 
An  Inquiry  into  the  various  sources  of  the  usual  forms  of  the 

summer  and  autumnal  diseases  in  the  United  States  and 

the  means  of  preventing  them.   To  which  are  added  facts, 

intended  to  prove  the  yellow  fever  not  to  be  contagious. 

Phila.    J.  Conrad  et  al.    1805.    pp.  113. 

Old   family   letters   relating  to   the   yellow   fever.     Edited  by 
Alexander  Biddle.    Phila.    Lippincott.    1892.    pp.  108. 

6.    MEDICAL  WORKS  EDITED  BY  RUSH 

First  Lines  of  the  practice  of  physic  for  the  use  of  students. 

By  William  Cullen. 

Volume   I.    Phila.    Steiner  and  Cist.    1781.    pp.  xvi-f  388. 

Volume  II.    Phila.    Cist.    1783.    pp.  vi  +  184. 
A   Treatise   on   intermitting   and   remitting   fevers.     By  Jean 

Sennac.    Phila.    1805. 
Observations    on    the    epidemical    diseases    of   Minorca.      By 

George  Cleghorn. 

Phila.    Nichols.    1809.    pp.  xviii  +  184. 


268  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

The  Works   of  Thomas   Sydenham.    Phila.    Kite.     1809;    re- 
printed 1815,  etc. 
Observations    on    the    diseases    of    the    army.     By    Sir    John 

Pringle. 

Phila.    Finley.    1810.    pp.  xlvii  +  411. 
Observations  on  the  epidemical  diseases  of  Barbadoes.     By 

Wm.  Hillary.    Phila.    Kite.    1811.    pp.  xiv  +  260. 
A  Treatise  of  such  diseases  as  are  most  frequent  in,  or  are 

peculiar  to  the  West  India  Islands,  or  the  Torrid  Zone. 

By  William  Hillary. 

Phila.    Kite.    1811. 

7.   ON  SLAVERY 

An  Address  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  British  Settlements  in 

America  upon  slave-keeping. 

Phila.    J.  Dunlap.    1773.    pp.  30. 
2    ed.     To    which    are    added    observations    on    a 

pamphlet   entitled   "Slavery   not   forbidden   by   Scripture; 

or  A  Defence  of  the  West  India  Planters."    By  a  Penn- 

sylvanian. 

Phila.    J.  Dunlap.    1773.    pp.  54. 

New  York.    1773. 

Boston.    1773. 


[The  title  page  of  the  so-called  second  edition  at  Phila- 
delphia varies.  One  reads  "An  Address  ....  on  the 
slavery  of  the  negroes  in  America.  The  second  edition. 
To  which  is  added,  A  Vindication  of  the  Address,"  etc. 
The  Pa.  Hist.  Soc.  Library'  has  a  copy  with  John  Dick- 
inson's autograph  on  the  title-page.] 

Extract  of  a  letter  from  Benjamin  Rush,  of  Philadelphia,  to 
Granville  Sharp.    London.    Phillips.    1792.    pp.  8. 
[This  is  a  request  for  aid  from  the  English   Friends  in 
the  building  of  a  school  house  and  a  "plain  brick  church" 
for  the  Free  Negroes  of  Philadelphia.] 

The  Constitution  of  the  Pennsylvania  Society  for  promoting 
the  abolition  of  slavery,  and  the  relief  of  the  free  negroes 
unlawfully  held  in  bondage.     Begun  in  the  year  1774  and 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  269 

enlarged  .  .  .  1787.     To  wliich  are  added  the  Acts  of  the 

General  Assembly  of  Penna  for  the  gradual  abolition  of 

slavery. 

Phila.    Bailey.    1788.    pp.  29. 

8.    ON  POLITICAL  SUBJECTS 

Observations  upon  tlic  present  government  of  Pennsylvania. 
In  four  letters  to  the  People  of  Pennsylvania. 
Phila.    Styner  and  Cist.    1777.  pp.  24. 

Three  Letters  addressed  to  the  public  on  the  following  sub- 
jects : 

I.  The  Nature  of  the  foederal  union. 

II.  The  Civil  and  military  powers. 

III.  The  public  debt. 
Phila.   T.  Bradford.    1783. 

[These    "Letters"    arc    signed    "Tullius"    but    have    been 
ascribed  to  Rush.] 

A  Candid   Examination   of   the   addresses   of  the   minority  of 
the  council  of  censors  to  the  people  of  Pennsylvania  .  .  . 
and    the    defects    of    the    Constitution    of    Pennsylvania. 
By  one  of  the  majority.    Phila.    1784. 
[Ascribed  to  Rush  but   the   authorship   is   doubtful.] 

Considerations  upon  the  present  test-law  of  Pennsylvania. 
Phila.  Hall  and  Sellars.    1784.  pp.  23. 

2  ed.  Phila.    Plall  and  Sellers.    1785. 

[There  are  a  great  many  other  political  pieces  in  various 
periodicals  and  newspapers.  The  principal  repositories 
are  the  American  Museum,  the  Federal  Gazette  and  the 
Independent  Gazeteer.  Most  of  these  articles  are  un- 
signed or  over  a  nom-de-plume,  and  positive  identifica- 
tion is  frequently  difficult.] 

9.    ON  TEMPERANCE 

Sermons  to  gentlemen   upon   temperance   and   exercise. 

Phila.    J.  Dunlap.    1772.    pp.  44. 
An  Inquiry  into  the  effects  of  ardent  spirits  upon  the  human 


270  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

body  and  mind  with  an  account  of  the  means  of  pre- 
venting and  of  the  remedies  for  curing  them. 
[This  little  pamphlet  went  through  more  editions  than 
an}-  other  work  by  Rush.  I  have  seen  no  copies  of  an}' 
editions  earlier  than  the  fourth  and  it  has  no  date.  But 
in  a  copy  of  that  edition  at  the  Ridgway  Library  there 
is  a  note  in  Dr.  James  Rush's  handwriting  as  follows: 
"By  a  letter  from  a  person  by  the  name  of  Pierce  at  St. 
Croix,  this  piece  was  published  before  July,  1784."  The 
various  editions  which   I  have  seen  follow.] 

4  ed.  enlarged.    Phila.    Dobson.    pp.  iv  +  50. 

"The  Drunkard's  Emblem  or  An  Inquiry,"  etc. 


Phila.    Amos  Henkel  &  Co.  [1804?]  pp.  44. 
enlarged  by  the  addition  of  "A  Moral  and  Physical 


Thermometer.'' 

Boston.    Thomas  and  Andrews.    1790.    pp.  12, 

Boston.    Loring.    1823.    pp.  12. 

Edinburgh.    Turnbull.    1810.    pp.   12. 

(Extracts)   Phila.    Kite.    1818.    pp.  16. 

Amer.  Tract  Soc.  n.  d.  pp.  8. 

Columbian  Mag.    (Phila.)  June,  1791. 


10.    ON  PENAL  REFORM 

An    Enquiry    into    the    effects    of    public    punishments    upon 

criminals    and    upon    society.      Read    in    the    Society    for 
*  Promoting  Political  Enquiries  convened  at  the  house  of 

His  Excellency  Benjamin  Franklin. 

Phila.    J.  Jame?.    1787.    pp.  18. 

London.     Dilly.     1787.     pp.   vi  +  37. 

Considerations    on    the    injustice    and    impolicy    of    punishing 

murder  by  death. 
#  Phila.    M.  Carey.    1792.    pp.  19. 

(with  slight  changes)   London.    J.  Johnson.    1793. 

11.    MEMORIAL  ADDRESSES 

An  Eulogium  upon  the  Reverend  Gilbert  Tennent. 
Phila.    1764. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  271 

An  Euloginm  upon  Dr.  William  C.  Cullen. 

Phila.    Dobson.    1790.    pp.  30. 
An  Account  of  the   late   Dr.  John   Morgan   delivered  before 

the  trustees  and  students  of  medicine  in   the   College  of 

Philadelphia. 

Columbian    Magazine.    November,    1789. 
An   Eulogium  intended  to  perpetuate   the  memory  of  David 

Rittenhouse.    Phila.    J.  Ormond.    [1796]    pp.  46. 
Memoir  of  the  life  and  character  of  John  Redman,  M.  D. 

In  the  Medical  and  Philosophical  Register. 

12.    MISCELLANEOUS 

An  Oration  .  .  .  containing  an  enquiry  into  the  influence  of 

physical  causes  upon  the  moral  faculty. 

Phila.    Cist.    1786.    pp.  viii  +  40. 

London.    Dilly.    1786.    pp.  viii  +  71. 

Phila.    1839. 

[This  oration  was  translated  into  French  but  I  have  not 

seen  a  copy.] 
An  Account  of  the   Manners   of  the   German   Inhabitants   of 

Pennsylvania. 

Columbian  Mag.     January,  1789. 

(with   notes  by  I.  Daniel  Rupp)    Phila.    S.  Town. 

1875.    pp.  72. 
Pa.  Ger.  Soc.  Proc.  and  Addresses.    1910. 


An  Account  of  the  Sugar  Maple  Tree  of  the  United  States, 
and  of  the  methods  of  obtaining  sugar  from  it,  together 
with  observations  upon  the  advantages  both  public  and 
private  of  this  sugar.  In  a  letter  to  Thomas  Jefferson; 
etc.    Amer.  Philos.  Soc.  Trans.    Vol.  III.    1792. 

Phila.    Aitken  and  Son.    1792.    pp.   16. 


—  London.    Phillips.    1792.    pp.  24. 

—  Columbian  Mag.    March,  1792. 


Two   Lectures  upon  the  pleasures   of  the   senses  and   of  the 
mind. 
Phila.    1811. 


272  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

13.    SECONDARY  SOURCES 

R[obert]  W.  Abbe.    Memorial  of  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush. 

[This  is  a  collection  of  portraits  and  several  original 
letters  of  Dr.  Rush  beautifully  bound  and  placed  in  the 
Library   of   the    College    of   Physicians   of   Philadelphia.] 

I.  A.  Albers.  Americanische  Annalen  der  Arzneykunde.  Bre- 
men.   1803. 

Archibald  Alexander.  Biographical  sketches  of  the  founder 
and  principal   alumni   of   the   Log   College.     Phila.     1851. 

Jeremiah  Atwater.  An  Inaugural  Address  delivered  at  ...  . 
Dickinson  College.    Carlisle,  1809. 

James  C.  Ballagh.  The  Letters  of  Richard  H.  Lee.  New 
York,  1914. 

George  Bancroft.  Joseph  Reed,  A  Historical  Essay.  New 
York,  1867. 

Wilhelmus  B.  Bryan.     A  History  of  the  National  Capital. 
New  York.    1914.    2  vols. 

Burton  Chance.  Benjamin  Rush,  A  summary  of  an  address, 
n.  p.  1903. 

Thomas  Clarkson.  The  History  of  the  rise,  progress  and 
accomplishment  of  the  abolition  of  the  African  slave- 
trade  by  the  British  Parliament.  New  York.    1836.  3  vols. 

T.  Carpenter.     A  report  of  an  action  for  a  libel  brought  by 
Dr.    Benjamin    Rush,    against    William    Cobbett,    etc. 
Phila.    1800. 

William  Cobbett.    The  Rush-light.     New  York.    1800. 
[This  was  a  serial  publication.] 

Moncure  D.  Conway.  The  Life  of  Thomas  Paine.  New  York. 
1909.     [2  vols.  3  ed.] 

George    R.    Crookes.      Dickinson    College,  The    History   of   a 
Hundred  Years. 
[An  Alumni   oration  at   Dickinson    College.    1883.] 

E.  H.  Cummins.  Biographical  Memorial  of  Dr.  Benjamin 
Rush.  The  Evangelical  Repository.    Phila.    Vol.  I.    No.  2. 

Joseph  H.  Dubbs.  The  Reformed  Church  in  Pennsylvania. 
Lancaster  (Pa.)  1902. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  273 

Richard  Eddy.    Benjamin  Rush's  religious  principles. 
The  Christian  Leader.    Oct.  1,  1885. 

Henry  D.  Gilpin.  Published  Miscellanies.  [Phila.]  [Copy 
in  library  of  the  Pa.  Hist.  Soc] 

Charles  F.  Himes.  A  Sketch  of  Dickinson  College,  Carlisle, 
Harrisburg.    1879. 

Charles  Hodge.  The  constitutional  history  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  United  States.    Phila.  1840.    2  vols. 

David  Hosack.     An  Introductory  Discourse  .  .  .  and  a  tribute 
to  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush.    New  York.    1813. 
[vSec  also  Analectic   Magazine   for   1814  for  the  eulogy.] 

M.  A,  De  Wolfe  Howe.  The  Life  and  Letters  of  George 
Bancroft.    New   York.     1908.    2   vols. 

J.  G.  J.[ohnson].  A  Criticism  of  Mr.  William  B.  Reed's 
Aspersions  on  the  Character  of  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush. 
Phila.    1867. 

[John  Coakley]  Lettsom.  Recollections  of  Dr.  Rush.  Lon- 
don.   1815. 

[It  is  in  this  pnniphlet  that  Dr..  Rush  is  first  called  "The 
Sydenham  of  America."  Many  "of  Dr.  Lettsom's  bio- 
graphical statements  are  inaccurate.] 

John  Mace.     The  proximate  cause  of  disease,  etc.  Phila.  1802. 

Samuel  Miller.  A  brief  retrospect  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
New  York.    1802.    2  vols. 

Charles  K.  Mills.  Benjamin  Rush  and  American  Psychiatry, 
New  York.    1886. 

[This  is  the  best  short  critical  estimate  of  Dr.  Rush's 
place  in  medicine  and  in   psychiatry.] 

T.  D.  Mitchell.     The  character  of  Rush.     Phila.    1848. 

Silas  Weir  Mitchell.    Historical  Notes  of  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush, 
1777.    Pa.  Mag.  of  Hist,  and  Biog.,  Apr.,  1903.     See  also 
Vol.  XXIX  p.  15  ff.  of  the  same  magazine. 
[These   "Notes"   were   also   reprinted   in   pamphlet   form. 
Phila.    1903.] 

J.  T.  Mitchell  and  H.  F.  Flanders.  The  Statutes-at-Large  of 
Pennsylvania  from  1682  to  1801,     Harrisburgh.    1906. 


274  BENJAMIN  RUSH 

Thomas  Murph}-.  The  Presbytery  of  the  Log  College,  etc 
Phila.    1889. 

J.  H.  Musser.  Memoranda  of  the  life  and  works  of  Benja- 
min Rush.    Phila.    1888. 

Charles  Nisbet.  The  usefulness  and  importance  of  human 
learning,  A  Sermon  .  .  .  Carlisle.    [1796.] 

An  Address  to  the  Students  of  Dickinson  College. 

Carlisle.     [1786] 

William  Pepper.    Benjamin  Rush.    Chicago.    1890. 
[Reprint  Jour.  Am.   Med.   Ass'n.   1890.] 

T.  G.  Pettigrew.  Memoirs  of  the  life  and  writings  of  the  late 
J.  C.  Lettsom,  M.  D.  London.  1817.  2  vols. 
[This  contains  the  famous  passage,  "La  conduite  du 
Dr.  Rush  a  merite,  que  non  seulement  la  ville  de  Phila- 
delphie,  mais  I'Humanite  entiere  lui  eleve  une  Statue." 
Vol.  I,  p.  157.] 

David  Ramsay.  An  Eulogium  upon  Benjamin  Rush,  M.  D. 
Phila.    1813. 

A  Review  of  the  improvements,  progress  and  state 

of  medicine  in  the  eighteenth  century.  Charleston,  n.  d. 
[This  is  dedicated  to  Rush  "The  American  Sydenham."] 

W[illiam]  B.  Reed.  President  Reed  of  Pennsylvania,  A  Re- 
ply to  Mr.  George  Bancroft  and  others.    Phila.    1867. 

A   Rejoinder   to   Mr.    Bancroft's   Historical   Essay 

on  President  Reed.    Phila.    1805. 

W.  S.  W.  Ruschenberger,  An  Account  of  the  institution  and 
progress  of  the  College  of  Physicians  of  Philadelphia 
during  a  hundred  years,  from  January,  1787.  Philadel- 
phia, 1887. 

[This  volume  is  a  mine  of  useful  information  on  the  orig- 
ins of  many  of  the  learned  societies  of  Philadelphia  in 
general  and  the  College  of  Physicians  in  particular. 
The  foot-notes  frequently  contain  valuable  bibliographic 
material.] 

Benjamin  Rush  [Jr.]  William  B.  Reed  of  Chestnut  Hill, 
Philadelphia.  Expert  in  the  art  of  exhumation  of  the 
dead.    London.    1867. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  275 

[This  very  scurrilous  pamphlet,  written  by  a  grandson  of 
Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  contains  little  that  is  creditable  to 
any  one.  It  was  not,  however,  written  without  provo- 
cation.] 

Bernard  C.  Steiner.  The  Life  and  Correspondence  of  James 
McHenry.    Cleveland,   1907, 

Charles  J.  Stille.  The  Life  and  Times  of  John  Dickinson. 
Phila.    189L 

J.  M.  Toner.  The  medical  men  of  the  Revolution  with  a  brief 
history  of  the  Medical  Department  of  the  Continental 
Army.    Phila.    1876. 

Samuel  Tyler.  Memoir  of  Roger  Brooke  Taney.  Baltimore. 
1872. 

[This  Memoir  contains  a  short  autobiography,  written 
in  1854,  in  which  are  included  Justice  Taney's  reminis- 
cences of  his  college  life  at  Dickinson  College,  1792-1795.] 

J.  C.  Wilson.  An  Address  ...  at  the  unveiling  of  a  monu- 
ment to  the  memory  of  Benjamin  Rush  in  Washington, 
D.  C,  1904.     Phila.  1904. 

George  B.  Wood.  Early  History  of  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania. 3  ed.  with  supplementary  chapter  by  F.  D. 
Stone.    Phila.  1896. 


INDEX 


Adams,  John,  36,  37,  38,  54, 
89,  92,  97,  162. 

Adams,  Samuel,  37,  42. 

Aitken,  Robert,  41. 

America,  20. 

American  Philosophical  So- 
ciety, 41,  88  n. 

Amusements  for  Schools,  192 
ff. 

Armstrong,  General  John, 
108,   109,   112. 

Bancroft,    George,    97,    98. 

Baptists,  3. 

Bible  as  a  School  Book,  193f. 

Bingham,    William,    112,    118, 

131. 
"Bingham's    Porch",    72,    99, 

100. 
Black,  Dr.,  16. 
Blackstone,  24. 
Blodget,  Samuel,  Jr.,  194  and 

note;    183fiF. 
Boerhaave,  Dr.,  29. 
Bond,  Dr.,  24. 
Bostock,  John,  18. 
Bryan,  George,  71,  75n.,   104, 

106,  111. 
Caesar,  62. 


Carpenter's  Hall,  40. 

"Centinel",  71  and  note. 

Christ  Church  in  Philadel- 
phia, 14n.,  32. 

Clarkson,  Anna,  5n. 

Clymer,  George,  36. 

Cobbett,  William,  90. 

College  of  New  Jersey,  5,  7, 
9,  20,  21,  25,  31,  124.  See 
Princeton. 

College  of  Philadelphia,  15n., 
24,  26,  73;  Loss  of  Char- 
ter, 74,  76. 

College  of  Physicians  of 
Philadelphia,  31,  79,  87,  88. 

"Common  Sense",  41,  43. 

Constitution,    Federal,    69-71. 

Continental  Congress,  20,  36, 
44fT.,  55. 

Convention,  Constitutional, 
36. 

Conway  Cabal,  53,  60. 

Council  of  Safetj'  of  Penn- 
sylvania, 39,  73. 

Coxe,  John   Redman,  78. 
Cromwell,  Oliver,  3,   18. 
Cromwell,   William,   23. 
Cruden,   Alexander,  23. 


27S 


INDEX 


Cullen,  Dr.  William,  16,  27, 
29,   30. 

Davies,  Rev.  Samuel,  Presi- 
dent of  the  College  of 
New  Jersey,  9,  54. 

Declaration  of  Independence, 
20,  31,  44-46. 

Dickinson  College,  38;  first 
planned,  100;  Carlisle 
presbytery  considers  cir- 
cular letter  relative  to, 
101;  Rush's  "Hints  on  es- 
tablishment of",  101-4; 
Opposition  to,  104-6;  Car- 
lisle presbytery's  reply  to 
Rush's  "Hints",  106-7; 
letter  by  Rush  to  Arm- 
strong relative  to,  109-12; 
Carlisle  presbytery  ap- 
proves establishment  of, 
112;  choice  of  Trustees 
for,  113-4;  securing  char- 
ter of,  113-6;  organiza- 
tion of  Board,  116;  choice 
of  name  for,  117;  finances 
of,  117-23;  first  meeting 
of  Board  of,  123;  choice 
of  President  of,  124-5;  sal- 
ary of  President,  126;  ar- 
rival of  President,  132; 
faculty  and  students  at 
the  beginning,  133;  resig- 
nation of  President,  136; 
his  reelection,  140;  stu- 
dents not  properly  classi- 
fied  in,   142;   character   of 


the    instruction    in,    140-5 
149-51;     changes     in     the 
course     of     study,     145-7 
discipline  in,  147-8;  build- 
ings and  grounds  of,  151-6 
death  of  first  President  of 
156;    selection    of    succes- 
sor,  156-8;  the   library  of 
160;  chair  of  chemistry  in 
160;    number    of    students 
in,   160-2;   closing  of,   162 
reorganization,     163;     de- 
fects of  charter  of,  164-6 
copy  of  advertisement  of, 
167-9;  Rush  as  the  father 
of,  194. 

Dickinson,    John,    36-39,    47, 
112,  128-131. 

Diderot,  22,  24. 

Dilly,  Edward,  23,  38. 

Dufifield,    Dr.    Samuel,    59. 

Ewing,  Dr.,  75n.,  104-106,  127. 

Edinburgh,  16,  17,  22,  29,  33, 
35. 

Education      for      democracy, 
171flf.,   194fT. 

England,  20,  35. 

Episcopal  Church,  14n. 

Finley,  Rev.   Samuel,  4-6,   10, 
14n.,  20. 

Fitzsimmons,  Thomas,  72. 

Fothergill,    Dr.,   26. 

Franklin,    Benjamin,     15,    22, 
24,  39,  42,  46,  131. 

Frederick  the   Second,  62. 

Galen,  72. 

Gates,  General,  56. 


INDEX 


279 


Goldsmith,  Oliver,  22. 

Greek  and  Latin,  education- 
al value  of,  188-91. 

Greene,  General  Nathaniel, 
60. 

Gregory,  Dr.,  16. 

Hall,    Susannah,     mother     of 

Rush,  4. 
Hamilton,  Alexander,   59,  60, 

61,  182. 
Harvard  College,  11. 
Hazard,    Ebenezer,    6,    8,    11, 

13,  18. 
Henry,   Patrick,   38.   52,   47n., 

54,  56,  58,  63ff. 
Henry  the  Eighth,  62. 
Herculaneum.  212. 
Hippocrates,  13. 
Hope,  Dr.,  16. 
Hoyt,    John    W.,    179n.,    187, 

188n. 
Huck,   Dr.,  23. 
Hume,  David,  22,  23. 
Hunter,  Dr.  William.  22. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  97. 
Johnson,   Samuel,  22. 
Kuhn,  Dr.  Adam,  24,  76,  77. 
Latin   and    Greek   languages, 

educational  value  of,   188- 

91. 
Lettsom,  Dr.,  23. 
Lexington,  39,  41. 
Log  College,  5. 
London,  13,  22,  23,  24. 
Luther,  62. 
Maclav,  William.  72. 


Marshall,  John,  Chief  Jus- 
tice, 69. 

McHenry,  James,  78. 

McKean.  Thomas,  40,  70,  91. 

Monroe,  Dr.,  16. 

Morris,  Robert,  45,  59,  71n. 

Morse,  S.  F.  B.,  5n. 

Medical  education,  10-12. 

Mifflin,  Thomas,  36,  38,  55, 
56. 

Mirabeau,  24. 

Montgomery,  John,  99,  100, 
108,  119,  153,  154. 

Morgan,  John,  5,  13,  24,  25, 
27,  48,  59. 

"Morven",  31. 

National  University,  propos- 
ed by  Rush,  172;  quota- 
tion concerning,  172-3; 
purpose  of,  173-4;  grade 
of  work,  174;  course  of 
study  suggested  for,  174- 
7;  degrees  to  be  granted 
by.  177-8;  early  literature 
on.  179-88;  quotation  from 
Blodget  concerning,  180- 
1;  quotations  from  Wash- 
ington concerning,  182-3; 
selections  from  Rush's 
writings  concerning,  198 
ff.;  206ff. 

New  Jersey,  5. 

Nisbet,  Dr.  Charles,  chosen 
President  of  Dickinson 
College,  124;  considered 
for  presidenc}',  College  of 


280 


INDEX 


New  Jersey,  124;  ear- 
ly correspondence  with 
Rush,  124;  his  qualification 
for  presidency  of  Dickin- 
son, 125;  minute  of  elec- 
tion, 126;  salary  and 
terms,  126;  wavers  about 
accepting,  127;  John  Dick- 
inson's letter  to,  128;  ac- 
tion of  Trustees,  130; 
Dickinson's  retraction, 
130;  arrival  in  Philadel- 
phia, 131;  reception  at 
Carlisle,  132:  break  with 
Rush,  134;  illness  of,  134 
fi.;  resignation,  136;  prep- 
aration to  return  to  Scot- 
land, 137;  correspondence 
among  Trustees  concern- 
ing, 139flF. ;  reinstatement, 
140;  relations  with  Rush, 
140-1;  his  teaching,  144, 
149,  150,  151;  relations 
with  Trustees,  147fif.;  let- 
ter to  Judge  Allison,  155; 
death  of,  156;  salary  un- 
paid at  death,  156. 

Nottingham,  4,  6,  7,  9,  14n. 
Paine,  Thomas,  41flF. 
Paine,  Robert  Treat,  7. 
Palmyra,  212. 
Paris,  22,  23,  24. 
Penn,  William,  3. 
Penn,  Thomas,  26. 
Pennsylvania,  35,  39,  44,  47, 
70,  74,  75,  214,  219. 


Pennsylvania  Assembly,  47, 
70. 

Pennsylvania  constitution, 
48,  72. 

Pennsylvania    hospital,    11. 

Pennsylvania,  Navy,  39. 

'Peter  Porcupine",  90. 

Philadelphia,  3,  4,  8,  9,  14,  15, 
24,  27,  28,  30,  32,  33,  37, 
40,  42,  74,  194,  220. 

Pickering,  Timothy,  70. 

Pinkhard,   Dr.,  23. 

Potts,  Jonathan,  15. 

Presbyterians,  3,  8,  14n.,  47; 
Second  Presby.  Church  of 
Philadelphia,  14,  15. 

Princeton  University,  5,  20, 
21,  32. 

Provincial  Conference  of 
Pennsylvania,  40. 

Punishments  for  schools, 
192flf. 

Quakers,  3,  38,  79. 

Ramsay,  Dr.  David,  21. 

Reed,  Joseph,  37,  55,  56,  104. 

Redman,  Dr.  John,  10,  12,  15, 
20,  21,  24,  25,  26,  31,  79, 
88,  93,  97. 

Reynolds,  Sir  Joshua,  22. 

Ridgway  Library,  33,  259. 

Rittenhouse,   David,  42. 

Ross,  Rev.  Eneas,  14n. 

Rousseau,  23. 

Rush,  Benjamin,  dates  of  his 
birth  and  death,  3;  an- 
cestry, 4;  his  father,  4;  his 
mother,    4;    his    brothers 


INDEX 


281 


and  sisters,  4;  sent  to  Dr. 
Finley's  academy,  4;  his 
account  of  the  academy, 
6ff.;  sent  to  College  of  New 
Jersey,  7;  his  correspond- 
ence with  E.  Hazard,  8-9, 
11;  choice  of  profession, 
9-10;  enters  upon  medical 
studies,  10;  his  devotion 
to  his  work,  11;  religious 
conversion,  14;  his  first 
published  writing,  14-15; 
interest  in  politics,  14-15; 
goes  to  Edinburgh  for 
study,  15fT. ;  receives  M.D. 
degree,  17;  his  opinion  of 
the  value  of  the  Edin- 
burgh experience,  17-18; 
his  "republican  ideas",  18; 
aids  in  securing  Dr.  With- 
erspoon  for  College  of  N. 
J.,  20-22;  visits  London 
and  Paris,  22-4;  appointed 
professor  of  chemistry, 
24;  testimonials  of  ability, 
26-7;  early  practice,  28- 
31;  marriage  and  family, 
31-3;  opposition  to  Eng- 
land, 35;  part  in  pre-Re- 
volutionary  discussion, 
36;  entertains  delegates  to 
Continental  Congress,  36- 
7;  JohnAdams'  early  opin- 
ion of,  38;  fleet-surgeon> 
Pa.  navy,  39;  helps  con- 
trol saltpetre  factory,  40; 


member  Provincial  con- 
ference of  Pennsylvania, 
40;  chairman  of  commit- 
tee on  independence,  40; 
connection  with  Paine's 
"Common  Sense",  40-4; 
career  in  Continental 
Congress,  44-7;  patriotism 
of,  46-7,  96-7;  helps  frame 
Pa.  Constitution,  48,  72; 
Surgeon-General  and  later 
Physician-General  to  ar- 
my, 48;  correspondence 
about  anonymous  letter 
to  Henry,  58,  62-9;  mem- 
ber convention  to  ratify 
Federal  Constitution  in 
Pennsylvania,  69-72;  in- 
terest in  Pa.  Constitution 
of  1790,  72;  resumes  lec- 
tures, 74;  refuses  appoint- 
ment in  University  of  the 
State  of  Pennsylvania,  75; 
length  of  service  as  med- 
ical teacher,  75-6;  various 
professional  titles,  Id-l  \ 
manner  as  a  lecturer,  11', 
the  number  of  his  stu- 
dents, 78;  his  practice,  78 
fT.;  yellow  fever  labors,  79 
-90;  his  method  of  treat- 
ment in  yellow  fever,  85; 
his  "Account  of  the  Yellow 
Fever",  86;  -  reputation 
from  yellow  fever  activi- 
ty,       85-6;       yellow      fe- 


282 


INDEX 


ver  disputes,  86-90;  libel 
suit  against  Cobbett,  90-1; 
organizes  Academy  of 
Medicine,  91;  fails  of  elec- 
tion to  Columbia  faculty, 
92;  appointed  Treasurer 
of  U.  S.  Mint,  92-3;  con- 
nection with  Penna.  Hos- 
pital, 93-4;  founds  Phila. 
Dispensary,  94;  as  an  au- 
thor,95;  his  philanthropies, 
95;  his  temperance  and 
other  reform  activities, 
96;  character,  97-8;  tribute 
by  Bancroft,  98;  considers 
foundation  of  a  college  at 
Carlisle,  99-100;  early  cor- 
respondence about  col- 
lege, 101;  outline  of  "Hints 
for  establishing  a  col- 
lege", 101-4;  opposition  to 
his  scheme,  104-6;  letter 
to  General  Armstrong- 
outlined,  109-12;  activity 
in  securing  college  char- 
ter, 113-6;  interest  in  col- 
lege finances,  117-20;  his 
"Thoughts  on  education 
in  a  republic",  123;  his 
choice  for  college  presi- 
dency, 124-5;  controversy 
with  John  Dickinson,  129- 
31;  controversy  with  Nis- 
bet,  133-6;  140-1;  respon- 
sibility for  faulty  college 
legislation,    148;    criticism 


of,  by  Nisbet,  150;  oppos- 
es Nisbet's  political  views, 
151;  interest  in  college 
buildings,  152,  153,  156; 
secures  President  Atwa- 
ter,  157-8;  interest  in  high- 
er degree  for  Atwater, 
160;  quoted,  162;  appre- 
ciation of  his  services  by 
the  Board  of  Trustees, 
165-6;  discussion  of  his 
educational  views  and  se- 
lections from  his  educa- 
tional writings,  171-254. 

Rush,  Mrs.  Benjamin,  31,  32. 

Rush,  Jacob,  4,  6, 

Rush,  James,  32. 

Rush,  John,  Father  of  Ben- 
jamin, 4;  Son  of  Benja- 
min, 31. 

Rush,  Richard,  32,  69. 

St.  Peter's  Episcopal  Church 
of  Phila.,  14n. 

St.  Thomas  Hospital,  22. 

Scotland,   31. 

Shippen,  Dr.  John,  13,  24,  35, 
48ff.,  56flf.,  75,  76. 

Smith,  James,  40. 

Smith,  William,  provost  Col- 
lege of  Phila.,  Zl,  74,  75. 

Stamp  Act,  15,  18,  35. 

Steuben,  Baron,  60. 

Stockton,    Richard,   20,    31. 

Story,   Thomas,  79. 

"Sydenham",  32. 


INDEX 


283 


Sydenham,  Dr.,  86. 
Synod  of  New  York,  8. 

Tennents,    5. 

Tennent,  Rev.  Gilbert,  15. 
Tennent,  Rev.  William,  6. 
Thomson,  Charles,  36,  61,  97. 
Thornton,    Dr.   William,    184. 
Trustees,     list     of     original, 
255-7. 

United  States,  21. 

University  of  State  of  Penn- 
sylvania,  75,   11 . 

University  of  Pennsylvania, 
5. 

Valley  Forge,  51,  58. 


Waddell,  Rev.  James,  6. 
Washington,  Bushrod,  62,  65, 

66,  68. 
Washington,  George,  35,  51ff. 

55,  60,  62ff.,   180ff.,   186. 
Wayne,  Anthony,  70. 
West,  Benjamin,  23. 
White,  Bishop,  74. 
Whitefield,    George,    14. 
Wilson,  James,  72,   131. 
Witherspoon^    John,    20,    21, 

22,  31,  58. 
Women,   education   of,   195f. ; 

226flf. 
Wynkoop,  Gerardus,  72. 
Yellow  Fever  epidemic,  79fl. 


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